Ungrounded

by Sandcroft

First published 18th of September, 2012

A modern mage teleports himself to Equestria in a magical mishap, where he continues to try to live his life.

A modern mage teleports himself to Equestria in a magical mishap, where he somehow saves the world tries to continue to live his life. Meanwhile, in Canterlot, a dismissed engineer makes plans to exact her revenge on the pony that stole her teacher from her. But how far down does the engineer's rabbit hole go?

Prologue: The Long Way Back Home

Clang!

He brought the hammer down in a large arc, swinging it high over his head.

Clang!

The metal he was hammering lit up in a shower of sparks, illuminating his face and surroundings briefly, before dying out.

Clang!

He was in a room made of stone, standing over a furnace that was holding the dying embers of a forgotten fire.

Clang!

All his focus was on shaping the red hot metal he held in his hands.

Clang!

It was slowly taking shape, flat edged, and ending in a point.

Clang!

It had finally taken the form suitable to his needs. He picked the former lump of metal and dunked it in a small bucket of water next to him. Steam hissed out, clouding his face and causing him to cough violently. When the smoke cleared, and he finished his bout of coughing, he pulled out the now cool piece of metal. He smiled, for the athame had come out in perfect shape. He set it down on a wooden table next to him, and pulled out a leather bag full of tools for fine carving.

He set to work, grabbing the smallest carving tool he could see in the bag, and etched an impossibly thin spiral into the hilt of the dagger he had just created. It was a slow but painstaking process. The smallest mistake, and he could render the whole thing useless. Sure, it could still be a hunting dagger, or even a cooking knife, but what he was going for was a lot more... complicated.

After hours of working, he was approaching the final few lines to etch into the soft metal. Adding symbols along the length of the blade, and digging out holes in the quillions to hold gems . Just a few more strokes and he would be done, the project that had taken him weeks to prepare for. He finished another line with a flourish, just one to go.

He took it slowly, making sure he had the angle and pressure right. He pressed the tip of his tool to the center of the hilt, and began to move it forward. The blade allowed his hand to guide the tool without incident, and just as he was about to connect the final two lines...

BAM!

He jumped in surprise in hearing a door slam, his hand jerking across the blade with a loud screech! He sat there in horror, not wanting to look down, for fear of what he would see. He decided to risk it, and slowly lowered his eyes toward the blade.

It was beautiful. The entire blade was done in intricate spirals and lines, the base covered with numerous symbols. Then he saw the center of the hilt. A long, jagged line split off where two lines should have touched, that would have completed what should have been the symbol for water, that should have finished his work on the blade. He just sat there, stunned that he spent all those weeks preparing for this exact moment, for absolutely nothing.

He looked behind him, and saw what had caused the door at the back of the room to slam shut so suddenly. Sitting there, with what appeared to be a smug grin on her face was none other than...

His cat, Bella.

"GODDAMMIT!"

Having calmed down a bit after being interrupted, he got up and walked over to the door, and his cat. He picked her up, a black tabby with a few tan spots, and carried her through the heavy white wooden door. He entered into a modernized living room. It was not very large, and most of the space was occupied by a purple-colored couch. The couch sat on a similarly colored carpet, and both sat next to a small TV. There were speakers mounted on the wall next to the TV, copper wires coming from the back haphazardly.

He walked over to the back of the room, heading toward the back door, cat tucked under his arm. Just as he reached his hand out to turn the doorknob, she wiggled out of his grip and jumped onto the couch. He groaned, already making the decision to give up on getting her outside. He walked over to the right, into a kitchen-like area. There was a small refrigerator in the corner, giving off a low hum. He opened it up, and grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the middle shelf. Popping it open, he walked back over to the couch and sat down on it, turning on the TV.

He flicked through programs quietly, sipping his soda all the while. Eventually he finished his soda, and decided that nothing good was on. He walked back into the kitchen and threw out the empty soda can, and then flopped back down on the couch. The last thoughts drifting through his mind as he fell asleep were about the beautiful creation that his hand had just so cruelly marred.

He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Dodging through trees in a whited-out forest. His breath visible as he exhaled in short breaths. He continued to run, watching out for high roots and low branches.

He had gone out there with one purpose in mind, to find a tree that had been living for twice his age. He spent days wandering, believing that said tree would be just through the next thicket, or around the bend. But, he was wrong every time; every time besides this one.

He had mistakenly woken up a frost giant, a great creature made entirely out of ice. It was vaguely shaped like a human being, with larger blocks where his chest would be, along with arms and legs. But his head was just one big square, with cracks in it that could reform to express emotion, just like a face.

So he kept running through the trees, knowing that he could never outrun it. It seemed like the frost giant would be slow, because, naturally, things that are very large would not have the ability to move very fast. But, instead, it had a way of tumbling through the trees, gaining speed much like an avalanche would.

He glanced ahead again, taking his focus off of finding his footing. He saw that there was a bend just up ahead, a turn that was marked by a clump of frosted trees.

He stuck his hand out as he was taking the turn, feet sliding across the frozen ground as he swung himself around the turn. After that sharp turn he quickly dove behind a small group of trees, obscuring himself from outside view, but he could still see out onto the path.

The frost giant wasn't so lucky. It missed the turn completely, instead slamming into a thicket of trees at full force. It was completely destroyed on impact, chunks of ice and snow flying every which way. Seemingly as an insult to injury, a large glob of snow fell off the tree, falling right onto where the giant was.

He peeked his head around the trees that he was hiding behind, cautiously. When he saw that the snow pile didn't move, he jumped out of his hiding spot to gloat at his unexpected victory.

"Aww, yeah! Eat that, blockhead!" he shouted at the pile of snow. He then did a little dance, spinning around once or twice before calming down and realizing that he was still in the middle of the forest. He sighed, and thought, I'm just glad I got what I came for. He reached inside his pants' pocket, and pulled out a small chunk of wood. He turned it over once in his hand, admiring the texture, before pocketing it again.

He looked at the snow covered path in front of him, leading toward where he came from.

"Looks like I'm taking the long way back home."

He walked in through the front door, shaking some of the snow off his boots. He ran his hand through his short hair, clearing it of any snow that may have clung on. He walked further into his modest home, removing his boots and shrugging off his jacket to leave by a closet.

He walked over to his couch, and flopped down on it hard, completely spent for the day. But he knew that he couldn't rest yet. He still had one more thing to do.

He rolled off of the couch, and stood back up, stretching and cracking his back. Then he slowly walked over to the refrigerator, taking the piece of wood out of his pocket and putting it on the counter next to the sink. He opened the refrigerator, taking out various jars and test tubes containing many colors of liquids in each one. He gathered them all up and put them next to the piece of wood.

He surveyed over all the ingredients, why does it always have to be so complicated? Why can't it just be something simple, like a phone number, or an e-mail address? Even a burnt offering would be easier than this. He grabbed each item in his arms, and began to carry them all over to the door that led to his laboratory and forge.

He was attempting to summon a demon.

He backed into the door, opening it. He was glad right there that he didn't put the handle and lock back on ever since his last experiment blew up in his face, literally. He walked over to a different part of that stone room, one filled with beakers and flasks, all holding various liquids. He examined one such beaker with interest, lingering on it for a few moments before letting out a silent, "yay!" at what had happened inside.

He walked quickly over to a dark corner, set all his ingredients on the ground before him, then ran back to the beaker he examined. It contained an amber colored liquid, with a tube sticking out of the top. He grabbed the whole thing, then spun the tube around so that the end of it faced him. He then put his mouth to it and took a sip, savoring the rich flavor that had just entered his mouth. It had a slight fizz to it, due to carbonation left over from it being made.

"I knew I could get the Coca-Cola secret recipe right!"

As delighted as he was, he had more pressing matters to take care of. He grabbed his journal off of a nearby desk, jotted down a few notes in it, alongside the rest of his experimental results. He then put the book down, back where it was before. He ran over to the forge section of the room, and stopped by a wall-mounted weapon rack. There were only knives on it, athames, to be more exact.

The wizard's knife, used most commonly in rituals, just like the one he was preparing for. Actually, he used the athame for other purposes too; while most wizards, warlocks, and mages preferred a wand or staff for spell casting, he preferred one of his home-smithed knives. In his opinion, wands became too cliché after the Harry Potter movie series came out, and staves seemed to be used by people trying to compensate for something.

He selected one athame that had a large, green trapezoidal shape carved into the hilt, with small, slightly glowing emeralds on the quillions; an all-purpose Earth dagger. It was one of his favorites, seeing how he connected with that element the most, it seemed fit that that was the one he used for the ritual about to take place.

He grabbed a sheath that was hanging on the rack, and buckled it firmly around his waist, he then grabbed a hiking backpack that was hanging from a nail on the wall. He shrugged it onto his shoulders, barely noticing any weight difference once it was on.

The backpack was not really necessary for the ritual, he liked the familiar feel of it on his back, a feeling of reassurance. It was a gift he had received a long time ago, back when he was still in training. It carries many magical properties with it, just like his athame does.

With all his gear ready, he walked back to the dimly lit corner he was going to perform the ritual in. In a split decision, he picked up his experiment journal sitting on the desk, and slipped it into his backpack. Even though the journal was in there now, he still didn't feel any extra weight added onto his back.

He crouched down in front of the ingredients he had dumped on the floor earlier. He took care setting each one up on the floor, in specific positions. He pulled a compass off the side of his backpack, and set it on the ground. Some ingredients had to be put on certain cardinal directions on the wax circle that he had drawn in days before. Various symbols drawn in a black, ashy substance decorated it all the way around.

He left all liquids in their containers, and dumped all powders out on the floor. He did a double check to make sure everything was in the right place, then, with a nod, he drew his athame. He held it up and began to chant words from an old, forgotten language. He was so absorbed in the ritual, that he did not notice the door at the far end of the room open just a crack, and close again.

He continued, uninterrupted. The markings on the floor began to glow a dark green, pulsing gently. The markings on the athame's hilt were glowing the same color, and beating in time to the ones on the floor. As the process went on, the beat sped up, and the symbols steadily grew brighter.

A shadow, low to the ground, crept up behind him. It stalked forward slowly, watching its glowing prey with unblinking eyes. It came closer, eyes unmoving lest the lights escape. One it was close enough, it lowered down further, then sprang through the air..

Everything was going fine with the process of the ritual. He felt the familiar tug in the back of his mind, the kind that only happened when he began to use his mana reservoir. He thought to himself while chanting, nothing's gonna go wrong now; I'm almost done.

It happened just after he thought that. He looked out the left corner of his eye, and saw a black blur falling towards the markings that formed the outer circle on the ground.

His cat pounced right on her target, blocking out the light for just a second, then moving her paw backwards to see what she just caught. As she did that, the symbol smudged, blocking out the power that it offered for the ritual.

He had no time to react. An extremely bright green-tinted flash lit up the dark room, accompanied by a loud poping noise.

All that was left over was a confused looking black cat sitting on a large scorch mark on the ground.

Twilight Sparkle was not having a good day.

It was fine in the morning though, which began simply, with her strict routine of getting up, brushing her teeth, showering, and making sure that she took off her violet knee-socks. Don't want to go through another episode of that... she thought to herself, remembering back some weeks ago.

She took out the checklist she had made the night before, and went through the day's activities. Mostly just errands, picking up groceries for the next few days, visiting Pinkie at Sugarcube Corner, and helping Rarity out at the Boutique. Same as usual, she thought, I'm just happy that all the excitement around here has died down for the first time in a while.

She trotted down the staircase happily, and she was greeted by an amazing smell halfway down. "What're you making this fine morning, Spike?" she called down to the kitchen.

A young voice called back from inside the kitchen. "Hay pancakes!"

"Well, it smells fantastic!" Twilight said as she walked into the library's kitchen. The small drake was standing in front of the stove, frying pan held in one claw, spatula in the other. He was wearing that ridiculous frilly pink apron that Pinkie had given to him when she found out he was interested in cooking. He looks so adorable in that. Twilight thought idly.

"It's almost done! I put a lot of work into these, so enjoy!" Spike enthusiastically replied. He flipped the pancake over in the pan, then tipped it over onto a plate sitting next to him, joining the freshly cooked pancake with the ones he had made a few minutes ago. He then put down the cooking utensils, and took off his apron. He set the apron in a drawer, and picked up the plate of steaming pancakes, along with a bottle of syrup.

"Oh, those do look really good!" Exclaimed Twilight, just as she does with most of Spike's home-cooked meals. She couldn't wait to take a big bite out of the freshest one on top. She snagged it with her magic, along with the syrup and a fork, and levitated it over to her plate. She took the syrup and put a generous amount on her pancake, drenching it completely. She glanced up and saw that Spike had done the same thing.

Just as they were about to take their first bites, Spike suddenly dropped his fork and put a claw to his mouth. Twilight noticed immediately and looked over to him in concern. "Spike, are you okay?"

He belched out a cloud of green fire, which condensed into a scroll that was marked with Princess Celestia's royal insignia.

Twilight gasped and grabbed it with her magic, then looked it over quickly, her face betraying the shock she felt at the words written on the paper. She dropped it on the floor and ran out, calling over her shoulder at Spike, "I need to go get the girls!"

Spike rubbed his head. "What was all that about?" He picked the paper off the floor and began to read.

My Dearest and Most Faithful Student,

I'm terribly sorry for having to contact you like this on such short notification. I'll get to the point quickly; there was an extremely large disturbance in the magic field surrounding Equestria. The way it shot up only means one thing, that an unknown entity has just landed on Eqqus. I wasn't able to discern much, but was able to determine that it has great magical capabilities, and influence on the world around it. I was also able to pinpoint its location of arrival, it landed a few yards into the Everfree Forest, in the middle of a clearing. I hate that I have to do this, but you and your friends need to make contact with this entity, and purify it if it's hostile. Luna and I shall be arriving on the outskirts of Ponyville in about 10 minutes. Go collect the rest of the elements and meet us by the path into the forest. We shall try to aid you in any way that we can.

Signed, Princess Celestia

"Uh oh."

Twilight galloped through the center of town, most ponies were still asleep at this hour, so the streets were clear, besides the ponies going to set up carts in the marketplace. She knew that she would be able to find Applejack setting up with Big Mac at this time. She ran straight through the center of the marketplace, and ponies that saw her, full out galloping, knew immediately that something was wrong. They quickly packed back in whatever objects they had back into their carts, turned tail, and headed back home.

She eventually spotted Applejack, facing the other way while setting up her apple cart. She stopped right in front of her, out of breath from her brief run. "Apple...jack...get...others..." She gasped, between breaths.

Applejack understood at once that something was wrong, and she ran off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. Twilight, this time, opted to teleport instead of running all the way to Fluttershy's Cottage. She disappeared with a flash and a pop, then reappeared a few seconds later in front of Fluttershy's.

She crossed the little bridge quickly, and slowed to a trot when she came near the door. She knocked on it fast, with her right hoof, and heard a little squeak come from somewhere inside the house.

"H-hello?" Fluttershy squeaked out, opening the door by a fraction, peering her head out the crack. She opened it fully when she saw who it was. "Oh, Twilight, it's just you. I thought that you were going to be somepony that I didn't know."

"Fluttershy, listen, I need you to go get Rainbow Dash from her house and then meet me by the entrance to the Everfree. It's an emergency!" Twilight said urgently, still a little out of breath from her run through town.

Fluttershy gave an adorable little gasp, putting her hooves up to her mouth to cover it up. "I'll go right away!" She replied with a firm nod of her head. She knew that Twilight meant business, and now was not the time to dilly-dally.

Twilight took a step back from the door, then lit up her horn and teleported, this time aiming for Rarity's Boutique.

She arrived out front with a flash and an ear-splitting pop! She ran to the door quickly, and banged her hoof against it rapidly. She heard a sing-song voice call from inside. "Coming!"

Rarity opened the door to a frantic looking Twilight. "Twilight, are you alr-"

"No time to explain, Rarity, just listen." Twilight interrupted her. "I need you to come with me. Now."

Rarity looked at her skeptically. "Is this just another one of your 'episodes'?"

To this, Twilight simply replied. "Princess' orders."

Rarity stared for a moment, then nodded. "Lead the way."

Twilight and Rarity ran in from town to the treeline, quickly followed by a nervous looking Fluttershy and an angry Rainbow Dash. "What the hay is all this about, Twilight!?" Her facial expression changed. "This isn't another one of your 'episodes,' is it?"

Twilight responded only with a glare. "Just had to check..." Dash trailed off.

Just then, Applejack galloped to the group, followed by a bouncing Pinkie Pie. "How could she be so bouncy at this early in the morning?" Twilight thought just before Applejack spoke. "Twi, Ah don't mean to be rude, but why in the name of Sam's hill are we out here?"

"Yeah! I was trying to sleep!" Rainbow echoed.

"Well," Twilight began. "I received a letter this morning just before breakfast with the Princess' seal on it." Twilight ignored the "shocked" expressions on some of her friends' faces and continued. "The letter didn't say much, but I was able to see that something new has arrived in Equestria." Now she had to ignore the actual shocked faces of her friends. "The Princess wanted us to meet her and Luna out here in what she said was to be 10 minutes. That should be right about now."

As always with Twilight, her calculations were impeccable. The Princesses arrived not one moment after Twilight finished her sentence. Celestia looked down on the Elements, regarding them with what she hoped to be a look of determination. However, Luna just looked plain angry, ready to slip into the Royal Canterlot Voice if necessary.

"Element bearers, I've gathered you here this morning because we are facing a threat never seen before on our world. We must be prepared for anything, for it surely does not come seeking peace. I ask for your aid in overcoming potentially the most difficult challenge of our lives."

The six collectively gulped, taking note of how Celestia just admitted that she has never fought against something so powerful.

Applejack chose this time to speak. "Uh, Princess, what exactly are we goin' up against?"

At this Celestia only shook her head and said. "I'm not exactly sure, but I do know that this being has an enormous amount of power at its disposal." She gazed off into the forest. "Its magical signature betrays belligerence and animosity, and it seems to be drenched in the blood of others. Whatever it is, we must be ready to put it down immediately.

"While I stand, it shall not harm my little ponies."

Chapter 1: Serenity

The first thing he noticed was a very harsh light. It encompassed his vision, taking over anything that he may have been looking at.

He couldn't tell if the light was on him for hours or seconds, it stopped just as suddenly as it started.

He was falling. Head first, towards something. Everything was dark around him, like space without the stars. But, he could still see his hands and clothes. He decided to look up to see where he was headed.

There was a large, multicolored pillar, very wide around; enough space that it would fit a few cars. It looked like it was some sort of mosaic, forming a picture out of colorful bits of stained glass.

He approached it rapidly, and he was soon able to make out more details. On the right side it appeared to be him, body leaned into the curve of the circle that formed the surface. His eyes were closed, and he was wearing clothes similar to what he was wearing now.

He wasn't quite able to make out what was on the left though. The rest of the space was taken up by a five-pointed star, but with no lines; each point being filled by a different colored gem. The one on the top left was a light purple, then moving around to the right, red, orange, green, and light blue. There was one gem in the center that was a darker purple, closer to lavender.

He had no idea what it all meant, or why he was on a mosaic on the top of a pillar that led into darkness. All he wanted to know was why he was flying towards it at one-thousand miles per hour.

"Brace for impact," the more sarcastic and annoying part of his subconscious thought.

Impact never came. He started to slow down, and flip over. He came to a gentle landing, feet first, on the surface on the mosaic, he was between the picture of himself, and the gems. He looked around, and took a step forward. Then another.

He realized he wasn't dead, and had a flash of joy; that was soon replaced by anxiety, because being alive meant that he could be hurt, and then die anyway. He still had no clue where he was.

He wandered around the boundaries of the pillar, pondering its meaning, but not being able to think of anything. He paced for a while, considering all his options for escape. "Well, going down is out. I'm pretty good at climbing, but there are hardly any footholds, and I'm no Ezio Auditore. There's nothing around me, so even if I somehow managed to get down, it wouldn't make any difference."

He thought along those lines for much longer, and at some point, his subconscious decided that he wasn't going anywhere, so his mind wandered to more interesting topics.

He kept pacing, and pacing, and pacing. When boredom set in, he stopped and sat down, running his hands down his face, stretching it. "What do I do n-" His thought was interrupted. Apparently, in all his pacing, he did not notice the sudden existence of a very large door, sitting over by the six gems on the mosaic. The door was elegant, a light pink in tone, with gilded spirals decorating the whole of it.

He walked over to it, half-stumbling over his feet, completely dumbfounded that he did not notice it in the first place. He slowly made his way there, and then saw his own hand reaching for the door handle, grasping it, then slowly pulling it open.

A brilliant light shone forth, causing him to squint. He almost stopped, remembering the last light that seared into his mind, but he knew he had to continue if he wanted to leave.

Halfway open. He knew that there was no turning back at this point, that his opening of the door was inevitable, so he just yanked it the rest of the way. He walked straight into the light.

He rose his arms up in a cross before his face, to shield him in any way possible, for he had no idea what would happen next.

He walked straight through, and the light began to fade, becoming less harsh every second. He began picking up on his surroundings, smelling grass, and hearing birds chirping in the wind that blew by him. He lowered his arms slowly, then opened his eyes, it was still a little too bright to see.

His eyes adjusted. He looked around in disbelief at his surroundings.

They were completely.

Utterly.

Normal.

He was standing in a patch of grass, about 10 feet wide in all directions, and he was ringed in by trees that stretched up into the sky. The sun was bright in the sky, giving everything a harsher tone, and making the leaves on the trees hard to look at, because they reflected the sunlight.

He felt a breeze stir by him, and could still hear the birds chirping far off into the trees.

His main astonishment was that he appeared to still be alive, and in one piece, no less. He had his ritual messed up that badly, and only managed to teleport somewhere else on Earth!

He raised his arms to his shoulders, and removed the backpack that he had put on before the ritual. Thankfully, it was still there, and still in one piece. He unzipped it, then reached inside, digging down farther than he should have been able to with a regular backpack. After a while of rummaging through its contents, he felt what he was searching for; a heavy book, with a torn cover.

He removed it from the pack, being very careful not to damage it on the way out. He then put it in one hand, while zipping the backpack up, and slinging it over on one shoulder with the other. He ran his hand over the mostly torn cover, still bearing some of its original cyan coloring. He cracked it open to a random page near the center, then began turning them back, looking for the section he wanted.

"Alright, I obviously just got teleported somewhere in the world; nothing a 'return home' spell shouldn't fix." He began to set it up when he found the right page. The spell was simple, a circle drawn on the ground, and a few words read from the book.

He set the book on the ground, and grabbed his backpack off his shoulder. He unzipped one of the front pockets, and looked through its contents. "Scissors, no. Duct tape, useful, but no. Ah, here it is." He produced a canister of white spray paint.

He shook the can up, then popped the lid off and sprayed a medium-sized circle on the ground. He put the lid back on the canister, and then returned it to its pocket on the front of the backpack. He zipped it up, then slung it across his back again.

He sat down on the grass, cross-legged. He picked up the book in front of him and read through the procedure of the spell. It was one of your classic, run-of-the-mill spells; one that had a predetermined statement, plus a fill-in-the-blank in the middle. In this case, it was "wizard speak" for returning home, and a bunch of similar statements, the fill-in was where "home" was.

He stretched his mind out first, feeling for the ever-present leylines of mana that fueled all magic.

His mind came to a complete halt. The leylines were there alright, but what froze him was that they were in different places then where he was used to. As part of his training, he had to learn that leylines crossed all over the planet in the same patterns. The patterns that he was sensing did not belong to Earth.

He felt like his world got flipped upside-down. Well, not literally, because he was on a world that isn't his.

He felt blind fury right after that. He shoved his book back into his backpack, and closed it forcefully.

Then he lost it.

He started screaming at the sky, directing his rage towards his cat, who was, "too stupid to understand that lights are not food," and things such as that. His rant continued for a few more minutes. Completely incomprehensible to himself and anyone who was there to listen to it. Which, coincidentally, there was.

At the end of his rant his just stood there, panting. His legs were spread slightly, his knees were bent, and his arms were lowered, level at his waist with his palms facing out and fingers curved. A basic mage fighting stance.

He was like that for a few more seconds, when he heard a small squeak from behind him. He immediately perked up, and slowly turned his body to face the source of the noise.

His mind nearly exploded at what was before him. Eight somehow surprised-looking horses, all staring at him in bewilderment. What blew his mind even further was that two seemed to be wearing jewelry, two had wings, and two more had horns. The ones with the jewelry had both wings and horns.

"What. The. Hell."

Twilight, the princesses, and the rest of her closest friends galloped as fast as they could. Getting ever closer to the area that Celestia said the magical spike originated from. She dodged past a tree, and pushed a low-hanging branch back with her magic. There was a clump of vines obscuring the next part of the forest from their view. Twilight stopped for a moment to charge up some mana to move the heavy vines out of the way.

With them out of the way, they pressed on in silence. Minutes passed, and the suspense increased. The running gave the eight ponies time to think about what they would face at the end of the trail.

But Celestia and Luna both thought back to the last time a foreign species landed on Equestria.

The memory spun through the minds of the princesses, causing them to slow down for a moment. They remembered how confident they were back then, believing they were invincible, heading off into danger without a second thought. "How foolish of us." Luna thought, "believing that we could challenge anypony and anything on the planet. That marked a day in our journey that I never forgot. The day I learned of what it felt like to be mortal."

Celestia merely shook her head and continued on, knowing that they had both grown from that experience, and knowing that they would prevail this time, no matter what the cost.

"What the hay is that noise?" Applejack asked. As they progressed through the forest, They had begun to hear a screaming noise, coming from a few yards ahead.

"I'm not sure, Applejack, but I have a feeling we're about to find out." Twilight replied, sounding more confident than she felt.

They continued on at a slower pace, crawling through the undergrowth, rather than trampling over it. The noises continued, and they began to make out words between the screams.

"Something about a cat...?" Rainbow Dash trailed off, attempting to interpret the words.

Hearing the words put them all at ease slightly bit, now suspecting the screaming thing to be a pony that just got lost while camping.

They walked toward a clearing in the trees, a small break in the otherwise secluded forest.

"Excuse me, but-" was all Twilight could get out before her speech was cut off by a squeak that had risen from her throat. What they saw before them was not a pony, as they had not suspected.

It was some sort of bipedal creature, with an odd looking pack strapped on to it. It had zippers all across it and tons of string tying it together unnecessarily. Its back seemed to be turned to them, and its top was bent halfway over, limbs low at its sides. It had things attached at the ends of its forearms that Twilight knew from her studies to be hands, with fingers at the ends.

Its upper body was covered in green cloth that cut off at the tops of its forearms. Its legs were clad in a coarse-looking material, light blue in its pigmentation. A simple and crude brown belt was barely visible around its waist, a knife and sheath was strapped around its upper leg. Its legs ended in black flat ovular things and Twilight could only guess at their purpose.

Its flesh was visible in some places, a pinkish/orange-y tone that was similar on its hands and up its arms. The back of its neck was showing, partially covered by the green cloth. It too was light in color, like the rest of its exposed flesh. Its mane was colored light brown, standing out in stark contrast with the rest of its body. It was short, cut close to the top of its head, and it seemed to spike a bit in the front.

It picked up on Twilight's squeak, and began to turn, slowly. The ponies gathered their breath and their courage, steeling themselves for what its face would be like.

Actually, it wasn't that bad. It had features similar to that of any pony. Aside from the total shock that his, she decided it was male, face betrayed at that moment. He had slight stubble around his snout, and she guessed he was still young.

"What."

He didn't know what to think. In fact, he didn't think at all. They weren't like any monsters he had ever encountered before. The clearing was completely silent, even the sounds of the forest around him ceased. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop even if it was into the grass, where it would make hardly any noise.

The two groups just stared each other down, neither party knowing what to say first.

Now that he had calmed down - as much as he could with a bunch of semi-mythical creatures in front of him - he could analyze them a bit better. There were two taller ones on the far left, wearing regalia and bearing both wings and horns. Then, moving to the right, were two unicorns and two regular horses, with pegasi hovering in the air between the four of them. The tallest one had a white coat, and the one next to it was dark blue; their mane's were both floating in a non-existent breeze The first unicorn had a purple coat, and the second had a white coat; like the tall one. The regular horses were colored orange and pink, and the pegasi were yellow and cyan.

He had no idea why they were all multicolored in pastel, or why the two tall ones had flying manes, but he did know that they were sentient. He could see that spark of intelligence in their eyes, even from the long distance he was away from them. He knew that they were there to meet him, that it was no accident that they ran into him. He was sure of it.

He began to move, simply. He took his arm and dragged it through the air until it was resting behind him slightly. The sudden, but slow move caused each of the horses to jump at the same time, obviously scared if he was going to make a move.

He stretched his mind out, briefly. He wanted to quickly familiarize himself with their positions and then test the minds of those in front of him. He drew mana out of the lines fast, not wanting to keep his mind open for any longer than he needed to. He stretched out further, heading towards the sparks that represented the minds of the eight horses. The two on the left grew the brightest, along with the purple one, but that was just barely smaller.

He knew from experience that that meant that the three of them were of greater intelligence, and possibly aligned in the arcane arts, just as he was. His consciousness grew closer. It touched the whole group at the same time. The two on the left flinched, acknowledging his presence. The rest made no move, not realizing that their minds were just touched by an alien presence.

He now gathered that the two on the left were definitely experienced in the arts, and possessed extremely large mana reserves. That was bad. He would have to pacify them if he wanted to make it out of there. At least they seemed to be just as surprised of him than he was of them. He could use that.

The whole process took about ten seconds.

He began to charge up mana in his right hand, behind his back, encasing it in a purple glow that stretched only to his wrist. He prepared a simple spell, one used primarily for distractions. It would cause a bright flare to be conjured; it would shoot up into the air, then whistle and explode. It was one of the first spells a magician would learn, a Firework Spell.

He brought his other hand behind his back and charged up mana in that one too. Its aura colored his hand orange, this being a spell from a different school of magic. It was a Basic Stun Spell, one used to pacify aggressors and put them into a deep slumber for about ten minutes. It would serve well, hopefully.

He raised his right arm up and launched the Firework. It screamed up into the air and exploded, distracting all but the two larger horses on the left. He was right, they wouldn't go down easy.

His other hand was up almost immediately and firing the stun spell at the larger ones. He was close enough to see their horns glow, one in gold, and the other in dark blue; then the spell was deflected straight up. The orange bolt spiraled past the fading Firework, thus bringing the attention of the six previously distracted ponies back to the situation at hand.

"Why did I think that would work?" He had underestimated them by a bit.

The white one lowered its face towards the ground and its horn glowed brighter. Faster than he could say, "Oh, shit," an invisible wave of force tore up the ground in front of it and barreled right into him. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and he was thrown back to the edge of the clearing. He rolled backwards and sprang back up, automatically lowering his body into the mage's fighting stance.

The blue one immediately followed up with a deep blue bolt of pure mana. It shot at him at a moderately fast speed; not faster that a bullet, but fast enough that he wouldn't be able to dodge it. He brought up a shield, the strongest one he could muster in the short time he had. Cyan mana swirled and hardened in the area in front of him, and he brought his elbows up in a defensive position.

The bolt struck, and his shield shattered almost instantly, sending crystalline shards of solid magic flying everywhere.

The force from the blow launched him backwards, clothes smoldering in some places. His back struck a thin tree and it snapped in half from his weight. He fought through the pain plaguing his spine and got to his feet.

He was up just in time to see another bolt headed right for him.

He recalled a lesson taught to him by his mentor, "What you cannot absorb, you deflect."

Quickly, he brought up a thin shield, but this time he angled it to the side. As he expected, the bolt shot off the side and flew into the forest. It shattered- not just broke, shattered- three trees in a row before dissipating into nothing. He looked back to the two powerful ones to see that they have moved in front of the other horses in fighting stances. It looked like it would be a fight just between them.

He charged up some mana in his left hand and brought it close to his midsection. He looked down to see it glowing a slight orange. This was a sight he was familiar with, as it was one of his favorite spells; even if the idea was stolen from his favorite video game.

He raised his hand up and aimed it at the two horses, then he splayed his fingers out and released the pent up energy. The spell rumbled across the ground, moving too quickly for the eyes to follow. Several pebbles and chunks of dirt raised up into the air as the spell shot along the earth. It reached his attackers almost immediately, and lifted them up into the air.

As they went up, surprised looks on their faces, he charged his Stun Spell again, and fired two shots off quickly. The two saw it coming and the bolts were absorbed in a cloud of mana.

The effect wore off, and they fell back down to the ground. But he already had his next move prepared. His hand glowed green, and mana was coursing through them. A bit of it crackled through the air on a random discharge. When he felt he had gathered enough, he slammed his hands down on the ground. In response, pillars of earth raised them up into the sky. They were cut into neat squares, and each one was elevated at a different height. He put himself on the highest, and his aggressors on the lowest, on the other end.

They grimaced, and looked at each other, no doubt trying to plot out their next move. But, he didn't plan on letting them.

Breathing slightly hard from the epic discharge of mana, he brought even more in and prepared a conjuration spell. His knife wouldn't cut it; it was too lethal. So, he chose the next best thing; a giant warhammer.

The behemoth of a weapon materialized in his hands, ready for action. Since it was his conjuration, it didn't quite follow the rules of the universe. He estimated that it weighed only half of what it should normally, thus allowing him to carry it around without much trouble.

He used a terraforming spell to carve out a slope in his newly made battlefield. It slanted downward at a steep angle, aiming right for his opponents. He cast a quick spell to freeze the surface of the stone, then jumped forward and slid along the ice. He reared his hammer back and readied to deliver a massive blow.

He reached the two, and they braced, shimmering mana shields materializing quickly before them. He swung.

The hammer whistled through the air and crashed straight through the construct. It shattered like glass and fell to the ground in shards before evaporating into the air.

He looked at his quarry. They were both slightly dazed, stunned by the magical backlash that comes with having a construct shattered. He took his hammer back, lined it up like he was hitting a baseball off a tee, then swung away.

He hit the white one first, in its chest, and sent it smashing into the blue one. They both flew off the battlefield and crashed to the ground. It wasn't a pacifying blow, but it had enough force to let them know that he meant business.

He lowered the marble pillars back into the ground and walked off smoothly.

He stood next to the horses, each getting up slowly, and waited for them to get their hooves back under them. After about ten seconds, they were both up and ready again.

He ran back over to the opposite side of the clearing, turned to face them, and bowed. They, looking slightly confused returned the action. As their heads came back up, looks of recognition appeared on their faces. "Of course they would know the rituals in place for beginning magic duels; its universal. I can't believe we didn't do this at the start."

With the proper actions done, they began once again.

He popped off a shot of fire to the blue one. The attack was swatted to the side by a haze of indigo along with a look of confidence. Or was it arrogance? "That could be useful," he thought.

He tried again, but with the white one. Same results, but the confident look was not present.

His hands glowed green, and he raised them chest level, palms facing the ground. As they went up, so did several chunks of earth. They broke off in jagged shapes,suspended in the air. He activated the mana, and surprised the two attackers with a few pebbles to the face.

He grinned. They didn't. The earth dropped back to its original place in the ground.

The blue one shot a nod to the white one, which was returned a moment afterward. Then, the blue one took off into the air, and he lost sight of it almost immediately. The other stayed on the ground, head down in a battle stance.

It shot off two small bursts of energy, then a larger third. It was an attack pattern he was used to dealing with when fighting other magic users. He ducked the first one, deflected the second one with a hastily made shield, and the third's impact was absorbed by a pillar of earth that he raised in front of him.

Chunks of it blew away off the sides when it hit, and he was able to feel the heat of the energy from where he stood. When the attack ended, he kicked forward into the pillar, or what was left of it, and sent it sliding forward.

He rolled to the left to see how the white one would react. Unsurprisingly, the horse jumped left also and landed gracefully. He frowned at his attack's ineffectiveness.

Just then, he was struck in the back by a bolt from the blue. A bolt from the blue horse, that is. He stumbled forward a bit, and he could smell his shirt smoking a bit from the energy of the attack. It wasn't one meant to incapacitate, that was clear.

He looked up and registered it fly by out the corner of his eye. "I forgot about that one. Sloppy."

He got into his battle stance, determined not to be caught off-guard again.

He let off a quick burst of energy at the white one, it was deflected. It then followed suit, launching a similar attack at him. Just as it did to his attack, he deflected it to the side.

Eventually, the two were locked in a quick give-and-receive magic duel, neither of them gaining the upper hand. He closed his eyes for a moment, and let his mind slip into the world below. He saw the energy signatures of himself and the white one, along with the mana they were exchanging back and forth. "Where are you?" he thought with an audible growl.

A blue flash appeared behind him towards his left, approaching him quickly. He raised a shield in the trajectory of the attack with a quick flick of the wrist. He didn't even turn around.

The battle never stopped. It went on for either minutes, or hours. The passage of time was nothing to the mage, just the receiving and returning of attacks. But, to his attackers' credit, it never let up. The fight was never boring, like some others he had dueled. His enemies did a good job keeping him on his toes at all times.

Then, the blue bolts stopped coming in. He was confused for a moment by the cease-fire, but it was the feeling was immediately waved away when the dark cloud of energy came rushing for him. It was going for a melee attack.

He made the most of his prediction by making an arm go full circle from his back to the ground in front of him, the earth behind him following the motion. He sensed the cloud glance off his dome. It wasn't a direct hit, nor was it meant to be, but the effects were immediate.

He brought his mind back to the surface and let the earth slide back into its previous position. He looked up to see the blue one spin out in midair and crash into the ground beside its counterpart. When the dust settled, he saw that it had hit its wing on the side of his dome, damaging it. It wasn't a full broken bone, and he was oddly relieved by that, but it was enough to keep it grounded for the rest of the fight.

The battle paused. The two sides waited, breaths coming in short pants, for the blue one to get up. When it finally did, they resumed.

All the mana discharge was taking its toll on him. Expending too much mana in one sitting was... unhealthy to say the least. The "friction" of expending all that magic could cause a person to burn up, literally. In other words, he didn't have too much fight left in him. If the battle kept the pace that it was at, then the horses would be the least of his problems.

He gathered up and stored as much mana as he could for the moment, then focused it in his hands and the balls of his feet. His opponents were preparing themselves for an attack, choosing to wait for a counterattack option, no doubt. They were smart, but there was no way they could foresee his next move.

When the sufficient magic energy was gathered for his next moves, he struck.

He turned and performed a leg sweep, simultaneously forming a spell out of the mana stored there. It rumbled across the field, and the two didn't have time to dodge again. They both floated up into the air.

He ran forward, crossing half of the distance of the field in a few strides. He used the rest of the magic in his feet to launch himself a few extra feet in the air upon jumping. He activated it and flew upward.

In midair, he conjured a ghostly electric scythe using the mana stored in his hands. It had the ability to expand, and he swung it down low and caught his attackers in the crook of it. He brought them eye-level with himself and allowed a smirk to grace his lips.

He took the lightning scythe's energy and squeezed it into a ball that he held between his hands. He used a moment to pump the spell with as much mana as he could manage without burning up. He had finally reached his limit.

When it was full to bursting, he pushed his arms out, and the ball expanded into a sphere that encased the two of them. He then used seismic energy to bring them in a circle around his whole body once, and then hurl them straight at the ground.

He could barely see a shield form before they flew into the ground at breakneck speed.

Panting hard, he lowered himself to the ground slowly, the effects of his jump spell wearing off. His limits were reached, and nearly broken, but he did it. The dust still hadn't settled, but he detected no movement from within the crater.

He laughed once or twice, chuckling off the now-excess adrenaline. Green sparks of mana crackled gently around him, the extra energy being released into the atmosphere. Now all he had to do was run and find a place to lay low before he found a way home.

In all the fighting, he did not notice that the six other ponies had circled behind him, and had donned brightly colored necklaces, with a gem in the center of each one. He landed back on the ground, not noticing the "lightshow" going on behind him.

The gems glowed brightly, and they all combined together to make a rainbow that shot into the air, then cascaded down toward him. He turned around at the last second, and looked at them, and then it.

"Well, shit."

The rainbow crashed down into him, and all he could see were the colors of the rainbow.

Author's Notes:

Hey everyone, this here is the heavily edited version of Chapter 1! It took quite a while to get through.

For those looking back, I hope you like what I did with it, and for those who are new . . . hi.

But that's all for now, really. His name will be introduced next chapter, along with the rather shocking effects of being "harmonized" by the Elements. How nice.

Almost forgot to mention, you will be able to check my progression of each chapter as a wordcount on my user page.

Ta ta for now!
~Sandcroft

Chapter 2: Past Experiences

It was like sitting inside a prism. Watching as blank light streamed in from one side, no impression with it, and completely devoid of color. Through the middle, it passes, transforming and splitting, changing into the colors that we perceive and see every day. He was stuck in the middle, feeling the light refracting off of him, searching through his very being, then splitting it into the parts of his personality and memories.

He saw who he was, who he is, and who he will be. He watched his thought processes go by. He saw himself overcome by different emotions; fear, joy, sadness, pain, and anxiety. He saw himself consumed by darkness. He saw himself unleashing his full potential, channeling all his emotions into one raw release of pure energy. He saw himself at his worst moments. He saw himself in his best moments.

He saw himself through the eyes of others.

All of this, in the blink of an eye. He passed through the heart of the prism, refracting back out into the world as a changed person; after seeing his heart of hearts. He would be coming out soon, and he would be ready to face the world, sure of himself, and who he was as a person.

He knew who he was, and what he was; and what he could be capable of.

The rainbow stopped flowing over him, and with it, the moment of understanding he had of his existence. He dropped to his knees, in shock of what he had just experienced. His hands were on the ground, his eyes fixed on them. He was breathing heavily, chest heaving in and out, keeping time to the frantic thumps of his heart.

It was a changing experience. And while he wasn't changed physically, his emotions were shifted, and they each knew their place. In all, he had never experienced anything so amazing, no self-help websites he may or may not have visited ever gave him this sort of defining moment he was just given.

He was there for a moment, then he dragged one leg up, and put his foot on the ground next to his hand. He was now kneeling.

"Good progress." He took his hand, and placed it on his upright knee, giving it some support for when he would stand.

"Now keep going." He stood, still looking at the ground, legs slightly spread to give him better balance.

He began to move his eyes up, slowly, preparing himself mentally for what he knew he would see. He looked up and saw the faces of eight very concerned-looking ponies.

"Ponies?" Yes, ponies. They weren't big or defined enough to be called horses.

They looked directly at him, expectantly. Emotions in their eyes betraying both sides of the spectrum, fear and relief. Before, he wouldn't know what side to keep them on.

"Is it better to be feared, than loved?" He made his choice.

"Hello?" The purple unicorn asked. She had a definitely female voice, and judging from the eyelashes she and the rest of them had, they were all female.

"Let's not assume just yet, we don't want to offend them too badly."

"Hi." He responded simply, before passing out from mana exhaustion.

That... thing, for lack of a better word, was quite a fighter. He was witty, and had used spells the likes of which Twilight had never seen. He clearly wasn't from around Equestria.

He was not some simple creature though. He was wearing clothes, and had bodily motor skills that spoke of practice and education. It was obviously other-worldly. But, it had attacked the Princesses, proving Celestia correct in reading his belligerent aura. Even so, she, and the rest of the girls didn't want to kill it. The Elements were their "go to" non-lethal weapon. It was for the best.

Right?

She let the magic take over, and felt as her friends do the same. Now they were all just the focusing instruments the actual Elements of Harmony were using. The power was not theirs, they were merely borrowing it, using it for the greater good of Equestria.

"Why didn't he try to stop and make peace? He's obviously educated." She knew that he was at fault here for starting the fight, but she still felt that it could have been prevented.

"Realize that it not is your fault that he decided to fight, and that you're going to have to put an end to this." With her resolve firm, she released the pent-up energy that the Elements were supporting, and shot out the familiar rainbow-colored stream that came with it.

She saw that he turned around at the last second before impact, and got out, "Well, shit," Before the rainbow cascaded onto him.

It was over fast. The flow of mana stopped coming from the Elements, and with it, the rainbow. He was left there on all fours. They all looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to stop his heavy breathing and look up. He moved, taking his leg and moving it up, then putting his hand to rest on what she supposed was his knee.

She asked in a trembling voice, "H-Hello?"

He replied, looking up with a weathered, tired face, "Hi."

Then he fell flat on his face.

He mentally face-palmed.

"Hi?! That's the best you could think of?! You just knocked the two huge ones out in battle, and 'hi' is the best thing you can think of?!" his subconscious berated him. Just saying "hi" was not appropriate at all if he was going to apologize to them.

He awoke a few moments after that, fighting to get past the haze of exhaustion. There was one thing he had to get done before taking a long nap.

"I'll just ask them if I can start over." That'll get them to see that he is normal, and not some kind of god-beast here to kill them all.

He physically face-palmed.

And he said to them, "Wait, wait, wait. Let me start over." He took his hand away from his face to see the reactions on theirs.

Their jaws were metaphorically on the floor. Except for the pink one. She just had a huge goofy grin on her face, one that seemed to threaten to split her face open.

He tried for a smile, and make it not look too creepy. "Uh... yeah. As I'm sure you've noticed, I'm a little new here, and I was kinda hoping that you wouldn't attack me when I pass out again." Once again, shocked expressions. The pink one was the first to recover.

It let off a huge gasp, and bounced into the air. It then released a torrent of words that would have overcame any spell that he could conjure.

"OMIGOSH! You're new here? To Equestria? But, that means that I'm gonna have to throw a huge 'Welcome to Equestria!' party, and stuff! Do you like balloons? Cuz' it's gonna be a BALLOON party! What kind of drinks do you like? My favorite drinks have tons of hot sauce in them, and it gives this extra kick, like 'KAPOW!' or something! I don't even know what it does, all I know is that it make me go crazy! Then everyone sees me go crazy, and they're all just like, 'it's just Pinkie being Pinkie' but I know that I'm always Pinkie! Well, I'm at least 90% sure that I'm always Pinkie, but then where does that other 10% go-"

He had to cut her off, putting a hand to her mouth to stop her from continuing her rant on God-knows-what. All he really picked up on was the possibility of a "Welcome to Equestria!' party, and he assumed that Equestria was the name of the place he was in. "A party sounds great," he said tactically, choosing not to reveal how confused his was by that speech the pink pony just rambled on about.

He smiled again, then his brain decided that would be enough time to get out an apology. He blacked out once again and fell face down on the grass. Eight surprised ponies looked at him, then they all started forward, unsure of what to do.

When he woke up, his head hurt. His mouth was dry and it felt like there were pins and needles in his hands. "Urgh..." His poor mind moaned, exhausted from the amount of mana he had released earlier.

He opened his eyes just a crack, and his vision was blurry. He could make out that it was dark where he was. He was laying down on a bed, his bed. He felt something soft and fuzzy put pressure on his head, and assumed that it was his cat. He moaned, believing that he was in his bed at home. "Wait."

He bolted upright and jumped up from the bed, spinning around to face what he thought was his cat. Sitting there instead, was a purple unicorn. His mind made the necessary connections and he remembered where he was. The unicorn's horn lit up briefly, and the shutters on the windows of the bedroom he was in opened instantly.

It was turning dusk outside, and enough light was streaming in for him to be able to make out that he was definitely in a bedroom. The walls were made of wood- actually- everything seemed to be made of wood. He looked at the ways the walls were, twisting around, and curving in near the ceiling. "So, I'm in a house modeled to look like the inside of a tree." He had been inside a few trees before, the latest being an exceptionally large one, and most of his time in there was spent jumping from platform to platform, climbing ivy, and dodging around over-sized spiders.

"Stop getting off topic, there's a unicorn sitting in front of you." Right then.

He walked forward and sat back down on the edge of the bed. "Sorry." He apologized to the unicorn.

"For what?" She responded. Definitely a she.

He became confused again. "Repetitive. I seem to be getting confused a lot more than I used to. How is it that I haven't had an aneurysm yet?

He stared at her. "Everything...?"

Then she stood up. "Well, that's a good start, but, it's all in the past now; let it stay there. And now that you're awake, we should go meet with the others downstairs so you can give us your story."

He nodded, and followed her as she walked past him, towards a staircase. She clopped down, hoofsteps echoing throughout the place. They descended slowly, and he took a look around the area they were entering. There were bookshelves lined with- what else?- books, all along the walls. He concluded that it must be a library. The ground floor was wooden, and spiraled, like the stump of a tree after you chop it down. "Either this is a tree, and fires are a REAL problem with all these flammable materials, or they're really trying to push the 'tree' theme."

He looked towards an adjoining room, only able to see some suspiciously pony-shaped shadows dancing along the ground. They reached the floor, and the unicorn called out towards the room, "He's awake, everypony."

"Every 'pony'?" He gave a mental shrug. "Makes as much sense as everything else here."

There was a commotion in the room, then seven ponies and a small purple and green drake ran out. The dragon had a pot on its head, and was armed with a wooden spoon in one hand; the lid of the pot was being held like a shield in the other. He looked at the two of them standing by the stairs and yelled, "Twilight! Get away from it! It might attack you!"

She glared at him, and said, "Spike, what did I tell you?"

"Nice name." He snorted.

The dragon jumped at the sound, then rushed forward and grabbed Twilight, pulling her back to the group of the other ponies.

He didn't like where this was going. On one side of the library was him, on the other side were some fierce looking ponies; ready to do battle once again. He knew there was no way he could take them, not after having burned out on all that mana use earlier.

Before he could start to try to defuse the situation, Twilight did. She stepped forward and turned around on her friends. As she did, he noticed that there were two matching marks on her flanks. A pink-ish star surrounded by five smaller white stars. "Mental note: ask about butt tattoo later."

He could feel the shift in the air as she began to speak to the other seven ponies, and dragon, "Spike." He snickered. She began, "Will you all just stop it! I realize that what happened back there was a big deal, but it's over now, and he's ready to talk to us! You just need to listen!"

The two larger ponies that he fought earlier were looking alright until they heard Twilight speak up. The white one stepped forward, then bowed. "Greetings, traveler. I suspect that we may have gotten off on the wrong hoof, so I'd like to remedy this situation by formally introducing myself. My name is Celestia, Raiser of the Sun and Ruler of Equestria, a land that you seem to have appeared in." She seemed to present a sympathetic air, as if she really knew what he was going through. His mind, however, only focused in on one part of her speech though.

"Oh shit. Ruler? Did I just hear that right? I might have screwed up pretty big here."

The blue one stepped forward, "I am Princess Luna, sister to Princess Celestia. We detected your entry into our world and went to investigate. We were prepared for just about anything, but you still surprised us." She fixed her luminescent blue eyes on him, and he got the feeling that the next part was more for his ears only. "I will admit, you are quite the fighter. Even one such as I wouldn't like to see what you had to go through to have skills such as those." She turned around and addressed the room. "I suggest we all just calm down and start over." He threw the group a disarming smile and put out his hand for a handshake. Naturally, they all jumped back again. He rolled his eyes, "Are they going to get over it?" He forced the smile back on.

"I'm Lucien. Nice to meet you."

The introductions came in a blur. He greeted them formally, and since none of them look even remotely similar, he was able to keep them pretty straight.

The orange one was Applejack; she had a southern accent for some reason.

The pink one was Pinkie Pie; the one who had rambled about throwing him a party, "Still looking forward to that." He thought.

The rainbow-haired pegasus was Rainbow Dash. Her very look oozed arrogance.

The other, yellow pegasus was Fluttershy; and, like her name suggested, was very shy.

The white unicorn was Rarity; she had a very refined accent, and was very well groomed, not a hair out of place, despite the fighting that had been done earlier. He could tell straight away that she was a bit of a drama queen, putting a lot of emphasis on all her words when she was talking to him.

And, lastly, Twilight Sparkle, the unicorn, and her "number-one assistant," Spike. He managed to force down his laughter at his name, and made himself promise to keep it down forever. "You've had enough laughs at it now; give it up." There was something about her that he couldn't put his finger on. A certain glow that traced the outlines of her figure, giving off discharges of . . . something.

He took his mind off of it as the sun set and Luna stepped out of the library. She came back a few minutes later looking a bit tired, but happier. He didn't read into it much, and resolved to ask Twilight about it later.

They moved into the adjoining room, which turned out to be a kitchen. They all sat down around the dining table in the center of the room, and were silent for a few minutes, not sure about what comes next. Twilight broke the silence. "So . . ." She trailed off.

Lucien picked up where Twilight left off. "You want to know my story now. Don't you?" They all nodded. "Well, its a long one, so I hope none of you have some place to be." They all shook their heads.

"Well, it starts back on what I suppose is my home planet, Earth."

I was born many years ago. Back on Earth, of course. I had a modest upbringing. My parents were neither rich nor poor; we always had just enough money. So, I was taught to value all of it, and to live a simpler life, I don't really need any material items.

I was about twelve when it happened. A huge disaster struck the area that we lived in. An earthquake whose origin was unknown. No scientist could explain it. The tectonic plates were all right where they should be, and there was nothing to catalyze it.

The tremor shook my world, both literally and metaphorically. The shock destroyed my house, and my life. My parents were killed in the accident, and I, being away from home at the time, was left alone. I had no relatives that wanted to take care of me either, so I became sort of a lone wolf. I didn't want to go into a home for kids because I had heard and read about all the horror stories of them. We lived by a forested area, and so I grew up learning how the forest was a pharmacy in itself.

So I ran off, into the woods, with no plan other than to live off the land.

I lasted for a few days, surviving on berries in the forest. I had built a modest house-type-thing in the trees, picking up pine needles for insulation. Then I realized that it was getting cold. Very cold, very fast.

I wouldn't last without fire, or some form of heat. As it was getting dark, I ran back to the ruins of my home. I couldn't keep the tears from my eyes as I looked over the rubble. I sifted through the broken chunks of housing for a while, looking for scraps of wood, or some gasoline or matches.

After a few minutes I picked up the sound of gravel crunching. I was not alone. I turned around to see what made the noise, hoping it wouldn't be the police or someone similar. I was a bit surprised to behold an old man standing where the doorway used to be. We stared at each other for a few moments before he spoke.

"May I come in?" was what he asked me.

I stared at him for a few more seconds, bewildered at his question, because there was no house to enter.

"Yeah," was my hesitant response.

Now, looking back on it, I don't know why I did what I did next. I remember is that he walked with a large staff, carved out of wood, with an emerald set in a hole in the top.

He walked up to me, and put his hand on my shoulder. He spoke again. "You have gone through a great ordeal, son. Will you allow me to help you, as long as you promise to do me a favor in return?"

Not entirely knowing what to say, I just nodded dumbly.

He took his hand off of my shoulder, and left it hanging by his side. He spun his staff around his other hand, and twisted it so it was horizontal, level with my chest. "Grab it," he instructed me, "And hold on tight."

I grabbed it, and felt the ground begin to shake. I looked at my feet, then back up to his face. He had donned a bemused smile, and to this day I am still not able to discern the emotion that was hiding behind it.

A green glow started to form in a circle around where we were standing. It was blowing wind up from under us, and I could see sparks floating up into the cold night air, leaving behind a dull trail.

The circle grew brighter, and shapes started to form on its glowing trail. The light began to pulse, pumping to the beat of my heart.

I was beginning to feel energized, and could feel power rushing into me. Even though I had never experienced anything like that ever before, it felt familiar, and I was comfortable with it.

The power was rising up in a crescendo, and my heart began to beat faster. My hands began to tingle, and they began to glow green as a looked at them.

Never once did I think that I was being hurt, or that I was in danger. I knew that I would survive this ordeal, and that it would empower me in some way.

The circle flashed white, and the glow on my hands blew outwards, passing my face and flowing into the sky. The glow faded, and I was left standing there with the man.

He looked at me, then gave me a genuine smile and ruffled my hair. "Green, huh? Good color," he said. I knew nothing of what was going on, but I was smart enough to know that he had just given me a great gift. What that was, I did not know, but I would find out soon enough.

He spun his staff back, and swept his other arm behind him, gesturing toward the collapsed doorway. "Let's go." He said to me.

We both walked off. Along the street that I had spent my short twelve years growing up on. Away from the only home I had known.

The ponies stared at him with wide eyes. They had no idea what to make of his story so far. Pinkie was the first to recover. With teary eyes and trembling lip, she walked over and gave him a hug.

Lucien didn't know what to do, so he just hugged her back for a few moments, then pushed her away gently. She went back to stand among her friends, and he resumed his story.

We walked for a while, and somewhere along the way, there was a change in scenery. Instead of the forested area I was used to, we were now walking in a waterlogged city, filled with lights.

There were no streets. Instead, there were narrow rivers, filled with long boats being pushed by men with long poles. Nobody paid us any attention. In fact, nobody even seemed to notice us at all.

We walked for a few more minutes. I was barely able to keep up with him, stopping constantly to ogle at the amazing sights the city had to offer.

We reached our destination fast. A wooden door built straight into the wall it was unmarked, and had no handle. He stopped in front of it, and I, not paying attention, bumped into him. He looked down at me and smiled. He then moved his staff in front of him, and I saw the emerald flash green.

The edges of the door flashed the same color, then it began to swing out, opening to complete darkness that appeared to spill out of the entrance.

He put his hand on the center of my back, and he guided us in. A dim light turned on after we took a few steps. It flickered for a moment, then brightened, revealing a granite spiral staircase leading up.

He walked forward, and headed up, leaving me with no choice other than to follow. We ascended for a while, and I began to tire of walking up the stairs.

The lights went out completely, leaving me fumbling around in the darkness behind him. I heard as his footsteps grew further and further away, leaving me alone.

I began to run, taking steps even faster due to my growing panic of losing him. After running and tripping for a few minutes I started to wonder just how high up we were going, and if I even wanted to be that high up.

It took some time, but I got to the top and reached a massive wooden door. It was probably three times heavier than me, at the time.

I got it open, eventually, and I walked into a small, circular room lined with bookshelves. None of them were the same size, some being bigger than I was at the time. I noticed that the bookshelves ended in a set of strangely shaped windows, which sat facing a desk in the center of the room.

The desk had a large chair behind it, and sitting in that chair was the man who had brought me here. His desk was cluttered with a wide assortment of items, ranging from books to eating utensils, all of them being related in a way that I would discover in a few years' time.

He was working. Head down, scribbling on a scroll of parchment with a vibrant orange-colored feathered quill. He noticed me enter, and looked up, setting down the quill.

He looked at me with weary eyes, and asked, "Would you like a seat?"

I nodded, and he waved a hand off to his left. A plain old chair was sitting there. I just dismissed it then as a case of me not noticing it, but now I realize that it was only there after he waved his hand.

The chair slid over to a stop in front of the desk. I walked forward and hopped up into it, facing him as he watched patiently.

He looked at me for a moment, then said wearily, "Welcome to my home." He stood up, and walked over to one of the oddly shaped windows, and gazed out of it, looking down on the city below. "I should really get an escalator or something, shouldn't I?"

He chuckled to himself softly, then looked over to me. I just shrugged, expressing indifference to the matter.

He turned to face me square on. "Are you ready to do me that favor you promised?"

I nodded, not knowing what I would have to do, but I trusted that I would be able to handle it.

He smiled, "I want you to become my assistant," he said bluntly.

I wasn't sure how to react. I knew that there was nothing to go back to, but I didn't know what he could mean by "becoming his assistant." How much work would I have to do? Would I be able to handle it all? What would I be doing?

I asked none of those questions, and instead put my faith into him and just nodded once again.

He beamed at me, then he rushed over to pull out my chair. I jumped down and he pointed over to the right, where the chair had come into existence. The was a wooden door set into the wall, with a rounded top.

"Right through there, then." He said from behind me. I walked over, and pulled the door open revealing rows and rows of bookcases, stretching farther than my eyes could see. I stood there slack jawed, and he walked by me.

He spread out his arms, and said, "Let's get started."

The ponies stared at him. Unbelieving. The only ones who did not look quite so surprised were Celestia and Luna, both instead held knowing expressions, no doubt having seen a similar sight at one point in their lives.

"This man, this complete stranger," Lucien said, "Opened his home up to me and saved me."

The ponies looked at him in awe, urging him to continue his story. "I began as his little assistant, running throughout the library, getting books and scrolls for him. I didn't know it then, but he had already begun to train me as a mage. The ritual we went through was the first step, the awakening of the power that sleeps inside of us all. He sent me on quick errands for special books too, knowing that I wouldn't be able to resist peeking at them."

"They were filled with amazingly detailed descriptions of spells, potion, rituals, and the like. All of them fascinating in their own special way. I was hooked after the first week of working with him." He laughed, reminiscing. "At some point in time along the second week, he stopped me instead of sending me on another book run. He took me by the shoulder and asked, 'Do you like what you have been reading?' I nodded back excitedly. 'Then I think we can begin.' he said back to me."

"That's when my 'assistant-ship' turned into what it was supposed to be, a full-blown 'apprenticeship.'" He looked at his audience. All four of the unicorns were nodding in understanding, having undergone a similar experience themselves, no doubt. The other four all had varying expressions though, understanding the concept, but to a lesser degree.

"I studied under him for years, growing up under his guidance and wisdom. He never led me astray from what I wanted, and gave me the freedom to experiment with whatever new lesson he had taught me. I learned a lot from the information that he gave me, and the formulas for whatever spells he showed to me, but his most important lesson, I think, was that the only limit to magic is what you cannot imagine.

"Of course, there are some formal schools of magic, but they're mostly just an attempt of others to categorize and file away spells based on their formulas. The main three are Destruction, Restoration, and Illusion, and each have their respective subclasses, I won't get into it that much though." His hand lit up green as he channeled some mana into it, surprising some in his audience slightly, but they seemed more curious now than anything. "Of course, every magician with a formal education learns with the viewpoint that these schools are immutable, and they don't mix; my education was not formal.

"I learned by doing, mostly, and inventing my own spells just as often as I used existing ones." He noted the surprised expressions on the faces of the unicorns, but didn't comment on it. "Mixing the schools is a lesson my mentor taught me, and it was invaluable. I found quickly I enjoyed the more noticeable and spectacular spells, which I suppose you would classify under Destruction and Illusion, and what I learned helped me greatly in battle."

At the word "battle" some of them seemed taken aback, but they let him continue with his explanation. "Allow me to elaborate a bit. I'm not good with Illusion, but actually a subclass of it. Conjuration came much easier to me, dealing with the summoning of items or people. When I was inexperienced with it, I could only conjure false images, much like illusions, but only deceiving the eyes. When I got better, however, I could do a few more tricks with it, utilizing it to summon larger, and even solid, items.

"In terms of schools still, Destruction was my favorite." The ponies seemed to grow slightly wary at that, he would have to try to keep his speech as harmless as possible. "It had a lot to do with the elements, and forces of sheer power. Given my occupation, it was necessary for me to focus more on the destructive side of things, and less on the healing type." He could see some mixed curiosity at the mention of his occupation, but he wasn't quite ready to talk about that.

"That's not to say Restoration is bad, of course. Basic Restoration is pretty simple, and any wizard worth his salt knows a few basic healing spells, because most of the time it would be dangerous not to. The school also has ties to nature, and the really dedicated become druids, living amongst the plants for most of their lives."

Lucien got a bit of a disgusted look on his face when he said that. "I couldn't really accept plants as good company, they had absolutely no sense of humor at all."

They all looked at him oddly, and Rainbow asked him, "Wait, wait, wait; you can talk to plants?"

He just nodded back, and replied, "Yes, but that's a bit off topic, I'm still explaining things." Rainbow huffed, but didn't interrupt again.

Lucien pulled his dagger from the sheath on his belt, and set it on the table. The ponies looked at it with mixed emotions, most of them falling under wariness. "This is called an athame, a 'wizard's knife.' It is most commonly used in rituals, but I use it as a focus for basic spell-crafting. Most wizards prefer a wand, or a staff, but I thought those were both too cliche, so I chose this." At the mention of his reason, Spike snorted, finding it amusing. Lucien smiled at him, glad that someone laughed at his subtle joke. "A focus is needed for the distracted, because it keeps them locked onto a specific spell formula, instead of slipping into another by accident. That kind of accident could be extremely dangerous.

"While I'm able to use spells from each of the schools, Destruction is still my main focus, as it is the most important to me and to what I stand for." He continued. "Speaking of what I stand for, each person's magical aura is different, just like they are different from anybody else in the world. Your magical focus and your emotional and mental state decide the color of your magic." He held up his hand and channeled a little mana to it, lighting it up in a green tint. "My aura is tinged green, and it shall remain so, as long as I am who I am."

Twilight raised her hoof. "But, your aura changed during the fight; If you're locked onto green, then how did it change like that?"

He put his elbow on the table, and leaned his head on his fist. "Those were all specific spells that I utilized, something I don't do very often. You can think of it as a sort of 'recolor' of my aura. The green is still there, but its been covered up by the spell or alignment for the time being. When I'm not focused on utilizing any sort of spell, the green is my default color." He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes settled on a fork sitting on a counter behind the ponies. He lifted his hand and lit it. Then, he used a telekinesis spell to lift the fork. It was enveloped in a glow of the same pigment, "Though, I have to mention that the way magic manifests in this world is different to mine," and he sent it flying over his head with a lazy wave of his hand to stick in the wall next to the door where they came in.

"There are, of course, other dangerous forms of magic. Blood Magic and Necromancy and all of those other types of sacrificial magic that give you the heebie-jeebies are kinda frowned upon. On my planet, the parameters of mana formation are just about limitless. A person with a large mana output and even larger imagination could do... well, anything, I guess. As long as you have the skill and imagination, there's nothing that can't be accomplished." He folded his arms and leaned back, his eyes losing focus in the action. "That's part of why I fell in love with the art. Infinite possibilities was a concept that stunned me. It was all I could ever think about during my studies, and I'm still making up spells now. I don't think I'll ever tire of the novelty of it all."

He raised his head to look at them. "And, let me just apologize now, for real. I shouldn't have attacked you all without at least taking stock of the situation. It's a mistake I don't plan on making ever again. What I've learned from this, I guess, would be that there's always a different course of action."

Princess Celestia met his eyes. "We realize that you have regrets for making this mistake, and we accept your apology. Just don't do it again." Her eyes flashed with a bit of golden power.

"Thank you, Princess, and I can assure you, it won't." He started to finish up his summary of his time spent studying. "Anyway, I learned spells from all of the schools, and while I'm not great at most of them, I have had motivation to use them all many times."

It was that moment that a sea-green pony with a blue and white mane walked into the library. "Twilight! Are you here!?" She called out.

The party in the kitchen froze. Recognition of the voice's owner slowly dawning on the faces of six of the ponies and the dragon. Lucien slowly turned around to face the entryway to the kitchen.

The pony stepped in, and stopped halfway through her call of "Twilight!"

She froze, staring at the group gathered in the room. Her eyes finally coming to a rest on a surprised looking Lucien. She smiled a huge smile, one only a lunatic could possibly pull off.

She yelped, and jumped at Lucien.

Author's Notes:

Name revealed. Lucien. I like it. I think it works pretty well. Thanks to tiberius for suggesting it in the comments for the prologue chapter. Well done.

Lyra. Yep. How couldn't I? Every HiE story has got to have Lyra in it. Just because.

And that's it for now! Next chapter will deal with Lucien being introduced to the town, and how he's going to adapt. This chapter was a bit more serious, but the next one will be a bit of comic relief.

Exposition, exposition, exposition. That's all that was seen in this chapter. Going to actually go places that aren't in the past next chapter.

I think I'm going to add this story to a group now. You will be able to see it under "Human in Equestria" from now on.

Cheers!
~Sandcroft
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What you have just read is the edited version of this chapter. There were some minor changes, not as many as last chapter. Man, that one was a doozy. Hope you liked it!

Chapter 3: Greetings

Lyra hit Lucien square on the upper body. To say the least, it hurt. Badly.

They were caught in a tangled mess on the ground, Lucien was trapped underneath her, trying desperately to get the crazed pony off him without hurting her; but that wasn't entirely out of the question. She was making some happy squealing noises, and he could make out something that sounded like, "I knew it!" somewhere in the middle.

They rolled around for a short while longer, then she was suddenly stopped, enveloped in a purple glow. She was whisked off into the air, and set back on the ground by the entrance. Lucien got up slowly, never taking his eyes off of the insane, sea-green pony.

She still bore the same expression; a Pinkie-sized smile that was a touch too creepy for him to find endearing. He was breathing hard, adrenaline still pumping from the surprise of being attacked.

He looked over to Twilight, and saw that her horn was glowing a similar color to that which covered the crazy pony.

"Some form of telekinesis, huh? Must be pretty strong to hold that one still..." His thoughts trailed off as he saw that Twilight was looking at him oddly. He then realized that he had been full-on staring at her horn, spacing out as Twilight was trying to talk to him.

"Huh?" Lucien snapped out of his trance, and refocused on Twilight's eyes.

"I said, this is Lyra, our local human enthusiast," she said impatiently.

"Oh. Well that explains it."

"I'm going to let her out now, and when I do, she will not attack you again." She directed that last part towards Lyra, legs still immobilized. She nodded furiously, and he became worried that her neck might snap from the force of it.

Twilight released her, and Lyra moved so fast it seemed like she teleported in front of him. He took a large step back as she began to speak.

"Oh. My. Celestia!" She shot a glance towards the goddess herself, to look if she offended; Celestia just lifted a hoof to show that she was fine. "Are you actually," she leaned in conspiratorially, "a human?"

Lucien darted his eyes back and forth for a moment, then leaned in, and whispered, equally conspiratorially, "Yes."

She shot up into the air, extremely giddy off of the discovery. When she came back down, she spoke excitedly, "I knew you existed! I knew! I knew! I knew!" She bounced with every "knew!" flying almost up to the ceiling. "Everyone said I was crazy, and they didn't believe me, but I'll show them now! Oh yes, they'll see; they'll all see!" She said manically, rubbing her hooves together while barely being able to balance on her back ones.

Lucien put up his hands in a 'time-out.' "Whoa, whoa, whoa, time-out there. What do you mean by 'they'll see'?"

She deflated a little, "They! I mean everypony who ever laughed at me or mocked me!" She was getting closer to the teary-eyed phase.

He saw her emotion change drastically, and did some quick damage control. "Uh, right! Yeah... Every..."

"Pony...? What could possibly go wrong?" He winced, breaking his own rule to never tempt Murphy's Law.

Celestia chose that moment to intervene. She stepped between them and said to Lucien, "Before we speak of introducing you to the public; just how long are you expecting to stay on Equestria?"

Lucien was a bit offended. "Well, if you put it like that..."

Celestia shook her head, "No, I didn't mean it like that, I meant how long until you can figure out a way to get back home?"

Pinkie bounced in. "I don't want him to go yet! He just got here!" She let off a dramatic gasp, and pulled down on her face with her hooves. "We haven't even partied yet!"

Celestia smiled. "He doesn't have to leave just yet, and I'm sure he's not going to want to miss a 'Pinkie Party.'"

Well. That sounded interesting. "What exactly did she mean by 'Pinkie Party'?" "I'm expecting to spend some time here, maybe a few weeks at best. I'd like to see what this new world has to offer in terms of knowledge.

Celestia looked satisfied by his answer.

Lyra was getting impatient. She poked at Lucien's side with a hoof, demanding his attention. He turned to face her. "May I help you?"

"Well... I was hoping that you would come with me, and I could show you to Ponyville...?" She ended her statement open-ended.

He looked over to Celestia for help. She intervened once again. "If you are going to stay for a few weeks, then I think the best time to introduce you to everypony else is at Pinkie's welcoming party."

"An agreeable plan. That way I'll be seen as friendly, or social."

"That sounds great. Besides, if 'Pinkie Parties' are what you make them out to be, then how can I say no?" Lucien decided to stick to Celestia's idea.

"Then it's settled," Celestia concluded, "You'll be brought out after everypony arrives, accompanied by Lyra."

Pinkie bounced in. "Woohoo!" Her eyes enlarged, and she gasped, "I need to get ready! We'll have it..." she looked at a pocketwatch that had mysteriously appeared in her hoof, "In one hour; outside of Applejack's barn!"

The pony whose name was just mentioned perked up, pulled out of her thoughts. "Wait, what?"

The decorations were set up unbelievably fast, thanks to Pinkie's Party Cannon. He watched with wide eyes as she shot streamers and confetti everywhere, covering the ground and hanging from trees. Celestia and Luna had left for the capital city of Canterlot not twenty minutes before it was all done.

He walked through the drastically transformed area, and watched the ponies he had met just a few hours ago wrap up preparations. Twilight was standing by Applejack as she was bringing some cider up from the barn's basement. Pinkie was popping in and out from behind trees, each time holding a different kind of treat. Rarity was meticulously hanging up decorations, and making sure it was all perfect. Rainbow Dash was standing by Fluttershy as they both discussed music with tonight's DJ, Vinyl Scratch.

Lucien hadn't been so sure when Vinyl was brought into the equation, but she seemed pretty cool. The shades she had were simply awesome, and her electric blue mane caused her to stand out even more than anyone "Anypony?" else. When the two were introduced, he shook her hoof, and she just said, "Cool."

He watched as they all finished their preparations, and Pinkie shouted out, "EVERYPONY STOP!" They all froze, including Lucien, and looked at her. "It's perfect!" She exclaimed, and everyone sighed.

"This is shaping up to be quite a party." Lucien began to think. "Judging by the looks, it'll be a little more innocent than the parties I'm used to, but we'll see. I wonder what kind of music's gonna play. He walked over to talk with Vinyl about her selection for the night.

He put a hand on the table and leaned on it. He tried to look cool, and felt that he wasn't succeeding. "So..." he trailed off, "What kind of music you got?"

Vinyl chuckled at the failed act he was trying to put on. She levitated up a few LP's from beneath the table. "I've got some LivingTombstone, some OmniPony... You know, the good stuff."

He just looked at her blankly, not recognizing either artist. She just rolled her eyes and said, "Dubstep. Nothing too heavy though, I save that stuff for the real parties." She winked at him.

He just smiled, and said smoothly, "Cool." and walked away at that. He didn't notice the DJ smiling and rolling her eyes as she put the records back.

He walked to the center of the area, smiling in anticipation and worry.

In the slumbering streets of Canterlot, a lone pony dashed toward Canterlot Castle. Her hoofbeats echoed down the streets, and the item in her saddle bag clanked around, smacking her repeatedly on the sides. "Ow... Ow... Ow... Ow...

Her coat was bronze, and her mane was brown with an auburn streak through it. Her cutie mark was two gears interlocked. She had gotten it when she was young, the first in her class.

She approached the front gates. The guards standing watch let her through immediately, recognizing her face immediately. One saluted as she flew by, and she could barely manage a nod in his direction.

She ran up the staircase, taking it a few steps at a time. She ran through the open doors and into the entrance hall/royal court that the Princesses ran 24/7. They happened to be in there now, sitting at their respective thrones. Princess Celestia looked weary, like she wanted to go sleep, and Princess Luna's ears and face perked up when she noticed that someone had come to visit the night court.

She slowed down to a light jog, then a walk, coming to a stop a few hooves' away from the thrones, out of respect. She bowed, still out of breath from the run over. She stood back up after a few seconds.

Celestia began, "Bronze Gear, what brings you here, at this late hour?" She sounded tired.

Bronze responded, still breathing hard, "I have just made... a... breakthrough... in... my experiment." She said, gasping for air.

Celestia looked surprised, "Now? Well, we must see it then!" She said somewhat excitedly.

Bronze managed a wheezing laugh, "I'm glad... you're eager... to see it." She lit her horn up in a copper glow and opened her right saddle bag, pulling out an object covered in cloth. She set it on the ground gently in front of her, then used her magic to take the cover off.

Celestia and Luna held their breath, then released it in a huff as they saw what the bronze unicorn in front of them had produced.

It was a metal glove, copper in color, and appearing to stretch up to the elbow joint. Gears and gold wires were sticking out of it haphazardly, and a sapphire was set in the back of the hoof. The gem and the wires were all glowing slightly, and one of the wires would spark occasionally.

Bronze Gear stood proudly, extremely pleased by her work, and how much progress she had made that night.

The Princesses looked at each other, then back at Bronze. They looked disappointed.

"Bronze Gear," Celestia started, "I'm going to be frank with you. This looks... unimpressive, compared to your original drafts. And not at all like it's suited for its intended purpose."

Bronze's ears folded back. "I know that it's not exactly what you expected, or what I drafted in the first place, but I was thinking of its military application!" She already looked defeated.

Celestia gave her a pitying look. "I'm sorry, but we've already given you too many extensions on your 'project,' and now it's time to shut it down."

Bronze Gear's face fell.

Celestia continued, "I know how much this project means to you, but we just can't afford to continue funding it. These results do not meet what we needed from you, especially given the direction you've chosen to take it. This was supposed to help ponies, not act as a weapon. Not in an era of peace."

Gear looked down at her hooves. "I-" she broke off. "Fine." She looked back up with fire in her eyes. "I'll scrap it. Forget the time that I spent working on this, forget my vision. Chalk it up to yet another in a line of failures you were too narrow-minded to accept!"

She turned and ran as she got to the door, speeding off into the night.

Luna started to give chase, but was stopped by a hoof from Celestia. "But sister!" Luna protested.

"No, Luna. Let her go. It hurts to see one of my top magical engineering students upset, but she will come to soon enough. If not, then we will send some of the guards to make sure she shuts it down. Am I clear?" Celestia said firmly.

Luna bowed her head. "Yes, Tia. I'm just worried." She looked back up at the door with a frown on her face.

"So am I, Luna, so am I."

The town took the sudden arrival of the human pretty well. That is to say, they screamed in panic when they saw him pick up Pinkie inside the barn, trying to help her hang streamers from a balcony out of range of her party cannon. Naturally, they all thought he was trying to eat her, or something.

It took Twilight about 20 minutes to round everypony back up to the party and calm them down, assuring that "Lucien" wouldn't try to eat anypony.

"Right?" she questioned him in front of the crowd.

He responded by holding both his hands up in surrender, and said, "Of course!"

They all looked a little shaken, but after a short while they got comfortable around him, and a few brave ones approached him, asking about his anatomy, home, intentions, favorite foods, etc.

In all, the night went by fast. Everything became a blur, chatting with the locals and learning about the quaint little town's history. He even managed to learn about how famous Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy were around Equestria. How strange it was that he would just happen to land in their hooves, metaphorically, instead of somewhere else on the planet.

"Oh yes," a blue unicorn with a mane of dark blue and white assured him, "They're our own personal celebrities."

He drank, non alcoholic, obviously; he danced, he may have even sang a little, when he was prompted. All he knew was that it was an excellent party, and one that he wouldn't have missed for the world.

He retreated to Twilight's library in the end to catch some sleep, wondering what would come next.

Back in Canterlot, one certain pony was not going to sleep, but she was wondering what comes next. Bronze Gear fled home and rushed directly into her laboratory, ready to go to work on the gauntlet and the rest of the project.

"So they think they can shut me down, huh? Just wait 'til they see what I've got in store..."

With that thought, she lit up her horn to light up sets of glowing crystals throughout her spacious basement, lighting the forge and illuminating countless blueprints and prototypes, all of the same project.

"They will respect me, and they will come to fear my power."

The light streamed in through the open window of Twilight's living room. Lucien woke up quickly, rising out of sleep like stepping out of water, bits of it dripping off his mind swiftly. He remembered where he was this time, and was not surprised to see the thousands of books encircling his position on the couch.

He stretched his arms out, and they hit the headrest of the couch. He groaned in annoyance, then tried to stretch out his legs, and met the same problem.

"It's a miracle I could even sleep last night on this cramped little couch." He thought in annoyance. He stood up and stretched fully, letting loose a slight groan as several discs that made up his spine popped back into place. "I think that the first thing that needs to happen is that I can find a place to stay, that isn't borrowing off of someone else's home."

A scent caught his nose, coming from the kitchen. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that the last thing he had to eat was a pink cupcake from Pinkie's party last night. He wandered into the kitchen, wondering what smelled so good.

He was greeted by the sight of Twilight intensely studying a notebook at the kitchen table, and Spike with his back to him, facing the stove. A sizzling noise came from it, and he was able to identify the familiar smell as one of eggs cooking.

Twilight looked up at Lucien, and said simply, "Good morning." before returning to her notebook. Spike diverted his attention away from the eggs for a moment, just long enough to meet eyes with Lucien and say, "So, how'd you sleep?"

Lucien groaned. Spike looked surprised. "That bad, huh?" he questioned. Lucien walked forward to pull out a chair from the table, and then fell down into it, hard.

Twilight looked up again, "What's the matter?" she asked him.

"Well, I think that I'm going to need a new place to sleep." he answered.

She winced. "Sorry about the couch," she said, "I know it isn't the most comfortable thing... I'll have Spike prepare you the guest be-"

Lucien held up his hand, and she stopped. "It's not how comfortable it is, because it is very comfy," he half-lied between his teeth, "The problem is that all of your furniture is pony-sized, not human-sized." To prove his point, he stood up, modeling his height difference.

Twilight looked a little surprised, probably realizing that she forgot to take that factor into consideration. "Well, we could try to find you a rental apartment..." she trailed off, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference.

Lucien just looked on. "We'll figure it out later. For now, is that scrambled eggs you're making, Spike?"

Spike grabbed the frying pan off the stove, and distributed its contents onto three plates on the counter nearby. Lucien noticed that one had a bit more than the other two. "Sure is, Lucien! Uh, you do eat eggs, right?"

"Yes," he responded. "I eat everything that you eat, with the exception of grass and flowers."

Spike smiled, "Good, because we just stocked up on fruits and veggies!" He grabbed the plates like a professional waiter, one resting on the inside of his elbow, other two grasped in his claws.

He tossed each one down in front of a chair, then ran back to grab some bread. He tossed three slices up into the air above the table, then breathed fire across them.

They all landed on different plates, perfectly toasted. The two diners applauded the feat, and Spike blushed, embarrassed by the sudden attention.

Spike took his seat, and they dug in.

Several minutes, and a few belches later, the three diverse occupants of the kitchen table were polishing the remnants of their artfully cooked breakfast.

"So..." Spike began, while clearing the table, "What else do you eat, Lucien?"

Lucien had been silently dreading this moment since the food was introduced. "Uh," he stammered, not sure what to say, "I'm, uh, an omnivore so..."

Twilight turned to face him. "Well, why didn't you just say so?" She looked unsurprised, and Spike just seemed confused.

Lucien was bewildered. "You're not grossed out by that at all? Even though you're all herbivores?"

Twilight shook her head, "Well, it isn't common, but we do get visits from griffins occasionally, and they do eat meat." Spike heard her mention meat, and a look of realization dawned on his scaly features.

"Oh! So that's what omnibore means!" Spike exclaimed.

Twilight gave him a look. "It's pronounced omnivore, Spike." and then to Lucien, "Well, getting meat won't be a problem, we've had to deal with a situation like this before. You just have to know who to ask." She said slightly mysteriously.

Lucien raised an eyebrow at that, but changed subjects. "Before we figure out the food issue, I need a new place to live. Know any open areas that aren't public property nearby?"

Twilight seemed to ponder this for a minute. "Well... I might be able to find you some land out on the boundaries of the Everfree Forest, where you woke up. That way you would still be close to Ponyville. But, wait, why do you need land anyway?"

Lucien looked a little exasperated at this. "Well, I'm gonna need land if I'm going to make a house, right?"

Twilight just stared at him. "You would need money to build a house." she said bluntly.

He waggled a finger. "I'm going to build a house, and it won't cost me a single cent." He walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Twilight looked at Spike as if to ask "What's a cent?" He just shrugged, and they both followed after him.

Lucien was walking up to Twilight and Spike's loft. "You do keep drafting paper up here, right?" he called down to them.

"Yes, but why would you-" Twilight was cut off by Lucien exclaiming "Never mind! Found it!"

She facehoofed, then started to trot up the stairs, just in time to almost be wiped out by Lucien as he ran back down excitedly. He opened up the scroll of draft paper and ran into the kitchen to set it down on the table.

Twilight and Spike followed him in, and watched as he held his hand out to the side. In a green flash, a pencil appeared, eliciting a short gasp from the unicorn and drake.

Lucien glanced over his shoulder, "You two aren't used to that? Tsk tsk. If you're going to see me this often, then you should get used to what I'm able to do."

Twilight recovered from her brief moment of shock quickly. "It's just that you seem so... normal," she chuckled, "that when you do something so magically advanced it's a little surprising." She defended herself well.

Spike was still opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. "What's wrong with him?" Lucien asked Twilight.

She waved a hoof in front of his face, "I think that may have been the first time he saw you perform magic." She said reasonably.

He dismissed it with a wave of his hand, and returned his attention to the drafting paper in front of him. He began to make methodical strokes across it, making sure that none crossed in any impossible way. "Don't want any endless staircases or impossible triangles." he thought and erased a few messed-up lines.

After a while, Twilight and Spike got tired of watching him draw and erase, and draw and erase, and draw and erase; so Twilight resolved to re-read a book out of Starswirl the Bearded's section of the Library, and Spike went off to visit Rarity at Carousel Boutique.

Lucien stayed at the table for the rest of the morning.

Bronze Gear had not left her basement since last night. She had been up at a drafting table, sketching out her continued plans. By that time, there was a mountain of crumpled up papers sitting in a corner where a trash-can used to be visible.

She was mumbling to herself, "Not that. No, that won't work. Agh!" she grunted, while crumpling up another piece of paper and tossing it to the mountain.

She levitated a clean sheet of paper to the table and got back to work. After a few minutes, the haze in her mind lifted, and she saw what needed to be done.

She made a few more lines on the paper, and began to laugh. "Oh, this will be perfect! Time to get to work!"

She ran over to the opposite wall of her laboratory, and tacked up the newly finished drawing of a high-functioning metallic gauntlet. She walked over to the prototype she had shown the Princesses, and began to take it apart, stripping it down to its bare essence, a solid chuck of pure Arcadium.

Lucien was at it for a few hours, and by the time he had finished, he was alone. Twilight had finally gone out to run errands, so he decided to have a little fun. He found a spell in his notebook, one that he always kept handy, just in case of emergencies.

He flipped to the page quickly, already knowing its position. He saw what he was looking for, and quickly cast it on himself. He heard the front door open, "And just in time, too." he thought.

Lucien ran back over to the table, and pretended to be working. Twilight walked into the living room and called out, "Lucien, I'm back, and I brought lunch!" She walked toward the kitchen. "Are you still workin-NNGAH!" she yelped and dropped her paper bags on the floor.

Lucien turned around, a scraggly white beard suddenly on his face. "Twilight!" he gasped in an ancient-sounding voice, "I thought you would never come back!" He limped over to her with the help of a cane he had just conjured up. "I waited for you!" At this point he couldn't keep a straight face over the incredulous expression she wore, and he burst into laughter.

"Bwah-ha-ha-ha! You should have seen the look on your face!" He laughed in his normal voice. Lucien wiped his hand over his beard, and it disappeared as if he was shaving it. "Priceless!" he exclaimed.

Twilight stood there with wide eyes, then they slowly narrowed. She scowled at his doubled-over figure, then broke into a small smile. "Well, I hope that you've at least made some progress while I was out."

Lucien stood back up slowly, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye while doing so. "Actually, yes, I'm pretty much finished." He said casually.

Twilight's smile grew. "Well, let me see it!" She walked over to the table, then peered down at what the human had been working on for so long. Her eyes poured over the page, soaking in its contents. She raised a hoof and pointed to a section, "Are you sure that that's possible?"

Lucien looked to where she was motioning, "Well, my dear Twilight," he said, "with IMAGINATION, anything is possible!" He made a gesture over his head, and a few dull, transparent colors appeared between his hands. He noticed her look, then glanced up. "Well, I was never good with illusion magic anyway." he said dismissively.

They looked back over to the sheet on the table. "When do you want to get started?" Twilight asked him. He looked back.

"How about now?"

Author's Notes:

Not much going on here, just some of him getting used to Ponyville, making plans, meeting DJs. You know, the works.

But, we got a look a Bronze Gear, the main antagonist! DUN DUN DUUUUUN!

There would be a pic here, and I have one, but I can't figure out how to get it posted...

Basically, she's some sort of a disgraced engineer working at Canterlot Castle under the Princesses. Her main assignment was to [SPOILERS] and the way she comes into play is [NOT GOING TO BE SPOILED].

Whoa, where'd those come from?

Anyway, the next chapter has already been started, and I plan on giving a little bit more action and a little less drawings of houses. (That's what was on the paper, if you didn't catch it)

Hope you enjoyed!
~Sandcroft

_______________________________
Once again, this is the edited version of the original chapter. Just a few grammatical changes, nothing more, nothing less.

Chapter 4: Shaping Up

They set to work, determined to finish before nightfall.

Twilight and Lucien left while Celestia's sun still hung high in the sky. They walked slowly, chatting about a few random things, heading in a general direction of the marketplace.

"So, Twilight," Lucien began, "I've answered a whole lot of your questions, so now I think it's time you answered some of mine."

To this, Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, "Well, I guess you've earned it thus far. What do you want to know?"

Lucien smiled. "Well, for starters, what's with the tattoos that you all have on your butts?"

Twilight blushed. "That's not a tattoo! It's called a cutie mark." she explained, shifting into lecture mode, "A cutie mark appears on your flank after you've found out your special talent. It doesn't come any sooner, or any later than it's supposed to, and it's also one of the only magical things that we still don't understand."

Lucien looked puzzled. "Then what exactly is your special talent? Making stars?" He snickered at the possibility.

Twilight shook her head. "No! My special talent is magic! I got it when I was accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns back when I was just a filly." She sighed, reminiscing on that fateful day.

"Alright." Lucien nodded, accepting the explanation. "Another thing, there's no way the Princesses actually control the sun and the moon, is there? Because on Earth, we used to believe that the sun and moon revolved around us, until some astronomer proved that we revolve around the sun."

"Actually, most ponies choose to believe that they do control those celestial bodies, the truth is," she leaned in conspiratorially, "that the Princesses just use them as anchors for their magic. All they really do is just give Eqqus a giant shove into orbit."

"Makes sense." Said Lucien, having heard of even crazier things in his past. "Last thing, is there some kind of apothecary or a pharmacist that I can see?" His eyes brightened. "A herbalist would be the best though."

Twilight looked at him weirdly. "Why would you need to see a pony like that? Aren't we out to get supplies for your new house?"

Lucien laughed. "Well, yes, but not in the conventional sense." he said puzzlingly.

She just shook her head and continued. "Well, we actually do have a herbalist and potion-brewer nearby. Her name's Zecora, and she's a good friend of mine. She helped me and my friends get out of a nasty run in with some poison joke . . ." She trailed off into her thoughts a bit.

"Can you take me to where she lives?" Lucien asked hopefully. Now they were out in the park in the center of town, neither of them had noticed that they passed their target location about five minutes ago.

"Sure!" Twilight replied, happy to help. "She lives out a short distance into the Everfree," she looked at him, "a bit closer to Ponyville than where we found you."

Lucien looked on awkwardly. "Uh, right then. Onwards!" he pointed in a random direction and headed off. Twilight rolled her eyes, then grabbed him with her magic, facing him in the correct direction. "Onwards!" he declared again.

Twilight groaned and smiled a little, then went off following the clueless human.

Zecora was in her hut, meditating, upside-down on a walking stick that she didn't need. Her mind was becoming quiescent , and she could feel the coming and going of energy through her body.

Hmm . . . Haahh . . . Hmm . . . Haahh . . . She breathed in and out, slowly. Each breath rattling through her, calming the pool of water that was her mind. Just as she was about to reach absolute tranquility, the door opened and slammed into the wall with a bang!

She lost her balance and fell immediately, crashing noisily onto the floor of her humble home. "Who is interrupting me at this time," she noticed Twilight and Lucien standing in the doorway, "to be seeking a service of mine?" She ended the statement as a question towards Twilight.

She stepped forward, "Hi Zecora, this is our new friend Lucien. He just arrived in Ponyville yesterday, and he wanted to see you."

To this, Lucien nodded. "Yeah. I heard from Twilight that you're a herbalist. I was thinking that you would be able to help me with a potion."

Zecora blinked. "I can sense the power inside you, I shall help you make a potion, or two. What is it that you seek, something strong, or something meek?"

"Why is she speaking in rhymes, and how can she sense the 'power inside me'?" he said out of the corner of his mouth, towards Twilight.

"It is a cultural thing, something of interest that my life brings." Zecora interrupted, answering Lucien's questions.

He just decided to go with it. "Makes as much sense as anything else around here..."

"Well!" he said, clapping his hands together, "I find myself in need of some reagents for a potion. Can you help me with some of them?"

"This I can do, but what can I expect from helping you?" Zecora asked back.

He raised a hand to his chin in thought, then said, "I'll give you a very special recipe that took me months to decipher."

Zecora considered it for a moment, then extended her hoof, looking to accept the trade offer.

They shook, and got to work.

Meanwhile, in a secluded basement in the nobility housing district of Equestria's Capital, sparks were flying out from under a door.

The pony causing those sparks to fly was engrossed in her work, barely pausing to wipe a bead of sweat off her brow. She was staring down through a blast shield, blocking the crimson sparks that flew from the metal she was shaping.

Bronze Gear was completely focused on her work, literally working her magic on the metal. She bent and smelted it into form, moving it by willpower alone.

It was slowly shaping up.

Lucien ran through the forest, heart pounding, feet slamming against the mossy floor. He breathing hard already. He dodged past low branches and swooping vines that threatened to clothesline him if he wasn't careful enough.

He heard a roar from behind, and poured on speed. "Why, why, why, why why!" was the only thing he could really think at that point. Duck. Jump. He was heading toward a large cliff now. "Shit. I took a wrong turn back there..." he risked a glance over his shoulder and looked up.

What he saw alarmed him. He couldn't see the monster chasing him, but he could see the damage it was causing. Trees were crashing to the ground rapidly, each one closer to his position. He ran toward the edge of the cliff and looked over. Nothing but boggy swamp water below, seemingly too thick to swim in.

Lucien turned to face the beast chasing after him. "A hydra... Nothing I haven't dealt with before..." he grimaced at the memory of what happened last time he ran into a hydra. A long-forgotten pain returned to his side, brought back by the thought.

He clapped his hands together, then rubbed them against each other. They began to glow a familiar green. "I just need a quick diversion." He drew his athame. "Never really thought I would be doing this again..." he thought.

Lucien raised it into the air, and it shifted color into a dark purple, signaling a change in magical focus. He spun it in one hand, then threw it at the ground.

The hydra burst out of the forest. To say he was pissed would be an understatement. He had just been enjoying his afternoon nap when some thing just began stomping around above his hollowed out log. He could hear it talking to some clippity-cloppity pony that lived nearby. Woke him up, that's what they did.

The hydra focused on its quarry. It was standing by the edge of the cliff casually, not moving. With a roar, the hydra reared back its center head, then brought its mouth down right where it was standing.

The hydra's middle head got nothing but a big mouthful of dirt. It pulled its head back with a whine immediately, teeth aching. The other two heads stared at the spot in confusion. Then they watched as a line quickly cut through it, then it disappeared completely, dissolving quickly into the air.

The hydra roared in anger at its escaped prey, then stopped quickly as it heard footsteps quickly approaching from its right. The right head had just enough time to glance over before all three heads were struck by boulders, knocking it unconscious instantly.

Lucien was panting heavily now. He had hastily cast an illusion spell just before the hydra came out of the forest. It was pretty simple, though. One designed to only trick the eyes, because he was counting on it being stupid enough to only be fooled by that. His plan did work out splendidly though. It took the bait, which gave him just enough time to use a cloaking spell (one that drained him greatly) and sneak around to render the hydra unconscious.

"I really should have thought that out better." he thought, looking back on the events that had just transpired. He retrieved his athame from the ground where he had thrown it. Upon picking it up, he switched its focus back to earth, then cut off the supply of mana, dispelling the shoddy illusion.

He sheathed it, then began to trudge back to the hydra's sleeping place; which was also the location of one of the ingredients that he needed for his potion. He walked through a huge rut that the hydra had left, dotted with felled trees. Splinters were everywhere, and he knew that he would need to check his shoes when he got back.

He finally reached his destination. An area that was once a mossy creek bed, now a gaping hole with water streaming into it, thanks to the hydra's stylish entrance. He walked around the hole, then bent over to pick up the silvery flower growing there. "All this trouble for one. Measly. FLOWER." he thought in exasperation.

He shrugged his backpack off, then dropped to one knee to unzip it. He set the flower aside, and pulled out his journal and a pen. He opened his journal to a new page, then made a quick sketch of the flower, along with some side notes on its location and effects, as described by Zecora. "Moonlight. That's what she called it." Now under close inspection, he could tell that the name was accurate. The flower had the color of the moon, and a gentle flowing grace to it. But, there was something else. He could sense the power it contained within its petals, and he could make a pretty good guess as to why he needed it.

He stuffed the items back into the backpack, then put it back on. He held out his hand, palm up. It began to glow a faint blue. A ball of energy formed, lines of mana crossing over each other, forming a pattern that reminded him of something digital. He raised his hand up, and the world seemed to wipe away in before him.

Twilight was worried. "Lucien was supposed to be back 20 minutes ago. What if something happened? she started to think frantically. "Keep a hold of yourself, Twilight. I saw how he fought. He can definitely hold his own in a fight." she began to pace. "But on the other hoof, he has never been in Equestria before, he might not know how dangerous the creatures in the Everfree are." she started edging toward the door now, going a little closer to it every pace. "That's it, I know he told me not to go looking, but he's been gone for too long."

She got about two steps out the door before he appeared like somepony wiping away fog on a window. Once he formed fully, he fell to his knees, seemingly exhausted. Twilight ran forward, "Lucien! Are you alright!?" she exclaimed, putting a hoof on his shoulder to try to help him up. He wheezed once, and it sounded like he was trying to say something. "What?" Twilight asked, putting an ear toward his mouth.

"Water..." She could just make out under his breath.

"Move, Twilight. He wants water. Go get some." she was glad her subconscious was there to keep her moving along.

She ran back into Zecora's hut, and looked around frantically. She spotted a jug that she had seen Zecora drawing water from before, for use in her brews. She grabbed the jug with her magic, and ran back out the door. Lucien was now laying on his back, panting heavily.

"Ok, ok. Sit up, I've got some water." she said to his prone figure.

At the mention of water, he shot up like a bolt. He reached for it, and upon getting it, he tipped the whole thing up and drank deeply. Twilight could hear the water shooting down his throat, and she wondered how he was able to drink so fast. After what seemed to be a few minutes, he finished the water, and lowered the jug.

Lucien burped once, then coughed. "Phew!" he breathed out. "Tell you what, I really hope that was worth the trouble I went through to get that!" he took one look at her, then burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?" Twilight demanded, angry that he found this serious situation amusing.

"You!" he said. "You look so serious!" his face changed to one of thoughtfulness. "Well, I suppose you ponies do live a tad more quietly than I do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Twilight angrily asked.

"You think that was the first time that I've 'narrowly evaded death'?" he looked at her. "No... no." he said shaking his head. "That happens to me a lot. It's something I've pretty much grown used to."

She looked at him aghast. "But how could anyone live like that? On constant fear that you might die, or be gravely injured by something!"

He just shook his head. "That's just how I like to live." He pushed himself up and began to take off his pack. "On another note, I got what we needed." he unzipped it and pulled out a silver flower.

"Moonlight..." Twilight thought. "How did you find some? I read that they were extremely rare."

Lucien looked at her and waggle a finger. "Let's sit down first. How does lunch sound? I'm famished."

She tilted her head unconsciously. "But we just ate."

"Yeah, well, I'm hungry again. Burned a lot of calories back there." he said, patting his stomach.

Twilight nodded in understanding. "I know a place." she said.

"So," Twilight said between bites of her egg and daisy sandwich, "how did you learn to teleport?" she swallowed before continuing. "You made it sound like teleportation wouldn't be included in any of the four base schools of magic."

Lucien made a hard gulp of his grilled cheese, then took a swig of water. "Well, it really isn't teleporting." he said.

Twilight just looked confused, "But, that was teleporting. You appeared right in front of me!" she said, throwing her hooves to the side in emphasis.

He put a hand to his chin and leaned his head on it. "Yes, yes I did. But, the spell I used technically isn't one for teleportation."

"Then what is it?" Twilight demanded.

"Well," Lucien said, leaning back, and putting his hands behind his head. "It's my own spell, based off of a teleportation spell, but I made a few tweaks to it."

"Like what?" Twilight asked.

"Well, for starters, I decreased the delay time, sped up the recharge time, and changed the method of getting from one place to another." he waggled his eyebrows. "And since I'm a sucker for Borderlands 2, I decided to call it a Phase Shift Spell."

Twilight wore another confused face, but decided not to ask on this one. "So you just made your own spell, just like that?"

"That's right. Just. Like. That." he said, mocking her words. He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "Didn't I tell you I could make spells?"

Twilight looked like she wanted to ask another question, but decided against it. She stood up. "I guess we had better get going now, if you still want to get that potion from Zecora."

Lucien stared off into space for another moment, then looked at her and nodded. He stood up and joined her to walk back into the Everfree in silence.

Zecora stood over her cauldron, looking deep into its foggy green depths. She walked over to a hanging moss and grabbed a hoof-full of the stuff. She walked back and cast it in, causing the mixture to bubble and change colors to red. She took a ladle nearby and used it to stir the contents of the cauldron. The bubbling stopped.

She heard her door slam open a second time that day, and jumped a bit, almost bumping into the cauldron. Lucien stepped in with Twilight. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a silvery flower. He held it up for a moment, then tossed it over to Zecora.

She caught it in one hoof, then took it over to the nearby counter. From there she picked up a knife and sliced the blossom of the flower open carefully, making sure she didn't make a bad cut. She dragged out the center of the blossom, an unpollinated stem.

She took that in her hoof, and brought it over to Lucien. "Work, this will not, if you do not drop it in the pot." she said to him.

He took it over and cast it in, then grabbed the ladle and stirred like she did. The mixture turned an earthly green, then became completely still. The ladle was stuck in it!

He tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't budge. He yanked on it with all his might, and it finally broke free, sending green goo flying everywhere.

He stood there, ladle in hand, looking stunned. Twilight just rolled her eyes and lit up her horn, using her magic to collect the flung pieces of potion.

"Well," Lucien said, wiping his face off. "I didn't expect that to happen." he shook his hand over the cauldron, getting rid of all the excess goo that clung to him. "Wait a second..." he brought a chunk of it up to his face for closer examination. "This is Jello!" he exclaimed.

Twilight and Zecora just looked at him blankly, not understanding what in Equestria "Jello" was. "Riiiight." Twilight said. "Now that you've got that done, will you please tell me what that potion is for?"

Lucien looked back at her, an evil glint in his eyes, "To take over Equestria, of course!" he laughed manically, whipping around and throwing his arms up in the air. He had conjured a classic villain's cape (the one with the high collar) to his back somewhere along the way, causing his menacing look to increase by +10 points!

Twilight recoiled. "WHAT!?" she gasped, just before Lucien doubled over in laughter. She watched as the cape dissolved off his back and he tried to straighten.

"You - heh - actually *gasp* thought I was serious?" he said between breaths.

"Yes! I did!" Twilight yelled at him. "I was horrified! I didn't want to have to fight you . . . I don't even think I could . . ." she trailed off.

"Aww, cheer up, Twi. It was just a joke. I'm not turning evil or anything, you've got nothing to worry about." he walked up and nudged her with his elbow, "besides, I'm sure you would have done a fine job fighting me." he said, trying to cheer her up.

"I mean it though! I've seen what you're capable of, and even I can't match it! The only thing that was able to stop you was the Elements of Harmony, and that was when we caught you off-guard." she hung her head.

"Cheer up, Twi. It's not that bad. Besides, if I'm as powerful as you say I am, then just be glad I'm on your side." she looked up, and he saw tears in her eyes. He pulled her into a quick hug. They stayed embraced for a few moments, then they pulled away.

"You still scared me." she said, playfully knocking his arm.

"Ooh! You got me!" Lucien said, grabbing his arm in mock pain.

They both shared a laugh, then looked over to see that Zecora had scooped the "Jello" out of the cauldron and put it in a bowl for him. She wrapped it in a few leaves, then set it on the counter.

"Now that I have prepared this for you, your end of the deal, I pursue." Zecora said to him.

"Oh! Right!" Lucien said, already taking off his backpack. "Well, I'm not sure if you'll be able to get all the equipment necessary to make this, but the ingredients should be pretty easy." he flipped through the pages of the journal, and Twilight saw fantastic drawing of beasts, along with recipes for potions, spells, and weapon crafting.

"Aha!" he exclaimed. He ripped a page out of the journal, one titled "Coca-Cola" and then opened his palm. The page lifted into the air, inside a green aura. Twilight and Zecora watched as Lucien closed his eyes briefly, then the page duplicated itself.

One of the pages came to rest next to the potion on Zecora's counter, and the other went back to Lucien's hand. He grasped it, then placed it back into the journal. He ran a finger along the two torn edges, and they fused back together, like he was zipping the paper back into his book.

"There you go!" he said, walking over to grab the bowl of potion from Zecora's counter. He scooped it up and strode out of the hut, Twilight in trail.

"What was that potion recipe that you gave her?" she asked him.

"Something that will bring her, and the rest of the world, great happiness." Lucien answered with an unwavering smile.

They got back to Ponyville quickly, with Twilight pondering what he meant for most of the time. They stopped by Applejack's cart on their way through the center of town, and they went to say hello.

"An' have a nice day!" Applejack called to one of her departing customers. She rummaged around beneath the cart for a moment, saying, "What can Ah do ya' for?" to Twilight while her head was down.

"Applejack, it's me." Twilight said.

"Oh!" Applejack said, pulling her head back up to greet her. "Well howdy, Twilight, what brings you around here?" she looked over to Lucien, who was busy drooling over a pie on display. "Uh, can Ah help you?" she asked him.

"Huh? Oh! No, actually, I don't have any money. Sorry." Lucien resumed staring at the pie.

Twilight sighed, "How much for the pie?" she asked Applejack.

"With the way he's starin' at it, Ah'd say it's on the house." Applejack responded, reaching to wave her hoof in front of Lucien's face. "Hey, Lucien! It's me, Applejack. Come back to Eqqus, the pie's yours."

"Wha- . . . Really!?" he exclaimed after his mind woke back up. "Thanks, I don't know what to say!"

"Then just thank me, and be on your way." Applejack suggested helpfully.

"Thanks!" Lucien said, before picking up the pie and heading back to the library.

Twilight lingered behind. "Now tell me, why did you really give him that pie?" she asked.

Applejack sighed, removing her hat. "Ah know that the whole thing in the Everfree was just a misunderstandin', but Ah still don't trust 'im. Nopony, or human should have that much power. Ah mean, what would 'ave happened if we didn't up and use the Elements?"

Twilight looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing her chin with a hoof absently. She looked off at Lucien walking away. "I'm not sure, Applejack. I'm not sure." she snapped out of her thoughts. "Well, the past is in the past, and it's nothing we need to worry about. I'll see you later, Applejack." she began to trot away.

"Ah'll see you soon, Twi." Applejack called out, waving a hoof.

Twilight caught up with Lucien just as he was entering the library. "Well, that was awesome of her to let me just take the pie." he said to her, holding the door open with his free hand. "What did you talk to her about?" he asked once they were both inside.

"Oh, nothing." she said dismissively. "Are you going to eat that whole pie by yourself?" she asked, pointing a hoof to it.

Lucien glanced down. "Actually, I'm saving it for when I really need it. You know how tough being a mage is; burning tons of calories in just a few minutes." he waved a hand, and the pie flew off to the kitchen.

Twilight nodded in understanding. "Well, alright. But, I hope you don't mind letting Spike have a slice or two. He really likes sweets."

"Sure thing." Lucien said. He walked into the guest bedroom and flopped down onto the undersized bed. "Wake me up at twilight, Twilight." he called over his shoulder.

"Uh, alright." Twilight responded, a little confused as to why he would sleep now.

"I'm sleeping now because I need to build up all the energy I can before going to build my house later." he said, getting a lucky guess as to what she was thinking about.

Twilight just said, "Okay." before walking upstairs to go read for a few hours.

Twilight finally put her book down, Celestial Bodies and Their Laws, with a yawn. The sun was beginning to set, and Lucien had told her to wake him up at twilight. She walked into the guest bedroom and looked upon his sleeping form. "He looks pretty peaceful. I don't know what I was talking about earlier, not trusting him. I can't see him doing anything bad, looking like this right now."

"Lucien...Lucien..." she gently prodded his body with her hoof. "Lucien. Get up." she pushed a little harder.

"Muhh..." he groaned.

"Come on Lucien, you told me to get you up." Twilight said.

He reached an arm over and lightly tapped her horn. "Alarm clock...stop going off." he mumbled before rolling over. He sat up with a lazy grin on his face. "Hey."

"Ugh. You can be so insufferable sometimes." Twilight huffed.

"Well, I'm up now. Let's go." He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He leaned back, unbending his spine. He was satisfied after hearing a few cracks. He walked past Twilight, heading for the kitchen. "So, where's that p-?" He stopped in his tracks, staring directly at Spike, who was in the middle of shoveling handfuls of pie into his mouth.

Spike noticed his stare and stopped immediately, claw halfway to his mouth. "Uhm...." he tried to start. He swallowed, "This...isn't what it looks like...?"

Lucien lifted his hand, and Spike rose up into the air. He motioned his hand toward him, and Spike drifted closer. "What were you just doing?"

"Well, I saw a pie sitting on the counter and..." he trailed off, glancing back at the destroyed piece of food.

"And what? You just ate the pie?" he said calmly.

"Uh, yes?" Spike responded meekly.

Lucien flicked his wrist, and Spike went sailing over his head, going toward the bookshelves behind them. Lucien turned to watch as Spike flailed his arms in mid-air, trying desperately to keep upright. He hit the shelves with a thud, then fell to the ground, causing the floor to shake slightly.

Spike moaned and turned over, looking up at the shelves. All the books were slightly wobbling, and his eyes widened. "Oh, no, no! Don-!" his words were cut off by a crash, as all the books fell on him simultaneously.

Lucien just snickered and walked over to the kitchen table to go nurse his wounded pie.

Twilight had stood outside the bedroom, watching it all go down. Her mind argued for all of five seconds, and at the end of their debate she rushed forward to go help Spike out from under the mountain of books. She dug for a moment, then found a twitching purple claw buried underneath some tomes.

"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed. She grabbed the claw with both hooves and yanked with all her might. "Nggh!" she gritted her teeth together. Finally, he popped loose, scattering a few books around the main room.

He looked dazed, and Twilight scooped him up into a hug. She pushed away for a moment and checked for any wounds. Finding none, she stood him up, then got up herself. They both walked into the kitchen to confront Lucien.

He was sitting at the table, taking huge bites of unmangled pie. He had used magic to slice it into several pieces, and was now eating it like a pizza. He froze, hand near mouth, when he noticed their stares. "Uh..... You saw nothing!" he exclaimed, drawing his dagger.

He threw it at the ground, blade first, and it exploded into a thick cloud of smoke. Twilight and Spike were caught in the explosion, coughing. When their fits subsided, they looked over to the table. Lucien was gone, and so was the pie. Spike stomped over to the table. "Did he really have to take the whole pie?" he exclaimed.

Lucien reappeared right outside the front door of the library. He chuckled to himself, then opened the door. He could hear Spike just as he finished yelling at him for taking the pie with him. Lucien walked slowly across the floor, trying not to make any noise.

He came upon the entrance to the kitchen, and peered his head around the corner. Both Spike and Twilight stood with their backs to him, the first checking out the table for any hints of pie.

Lucien rounded the corner slowly, not daring to go any faster. He walked up right behind Twilight, and stood over her. He loomed, and then yelled "Boo!" as loud as he could.

Twilight shrieked, and flew up to the ceiling like a cat. She clung to a hanging light, shaking like a leaf from the scare she had just received. Spike gasped and flew off the table. A slightly more rational reaction than what Twilight had.

Lucien doubled over in laughter. "That . . . that was the best!" he managed to squeeze out between gasps. He feigned wiping a tear from his eye and straightened. He looked over at the two and saw something he didn't like. At some point in his laughter, Twilight had stolen the pie, and now she and Spike both were holding chunks of it; he didn't like the evil grins they were both wearing.

"Our turn." Twilight said deviously. They both launched their chunks of pie at Lucien. He saw them coming in slow motion, and watched as the first one hit him square in the chest. He let out a yell, then began to back up, still in slow motion. The other piece continued its slow arc through the air. It approached as he moved away, growing ever closer.

It struck him directly in the face, and stuck there, completely eclipsing his features. The world returned back to its normal speed, and with it, Lucien's regular hearing. All he could sense though, was Twilight and Spike's laughter at his current expression. "I must look pretty ridiculous right now." he thought.

"Well, might as not let it go to waste." he decided. He pulled a hand up to his face and made a grasping motion with it. The pie rose off of his face and gathered in his hand. Twilight and Spike looked up just in time to see Lucien split a ball of pie in half, then launch both pieces into their still-open mouths.

They could see it coming, so they didn't choke. Instead, they chewed and swallowed. When they were both finished, the three looked at each other, then they all shared a great laugh at the events that had just transpired.

Lucien was the first to recover. "Well, now that we're all finished, and I've put something in my stomach, I suppose it's time to construct my house." he glanced out the window. "I just hope I didn't miss the right moment..." he stared at the falling sun.

"Wait, that's why you wanted me to wake you up? And what do you mean by 'didn't miss the right moment.'?" Twilight asked.

Lucien looked at her skeptically. "You did learn about auspicious moments in Celestia's School, didn't you?"

Twilight pouted. "Uh, no, actually. I really don't know what you're talking about."

He nodded, and changed the conversation's direction. "Have you ever performed a spell at high noon? Exactly 12 o'clock? Or at the exact moment the sun rises or sets? Or perhaps, if you're into this kinda thing, at exactly midnight?" he inquired.

"Well, I guess I've done spells at noon tons of times." she said.

"Thought so. And," Lucien added, "did you notice anything different about your mana flow at that time?"

Twilight saw where this was going. "So, you're saying that... that there are certain moments in the day that allows for more mana flow?"

"Ding, ding, ding! That's the correct answer! What does she win, Johnny? she wins another slice of pie!" he exclaimed.

Unfortunately, Twilight and Spike didn't get what he had said at all. They gave him blank stares, and Lucien noticed. He quickly tore off another chunk of pie from the tin its remains rested in. "Just take the pie." he said flatly, offering her the food.

"So, that basically means that the spell I'll be using will be able to get much bigger. Combine that with the Power Potion that we whipped up with Zecora means that I'm gonna have a house before the night is over." he concluded with a smile.

Twilight finished her pie. "So you have a spot picked out and everything? Oh! I should go get the girls! They'll want to see this!" And with that, she flashed away, leaving behind a satisfied-looking Lucien, and a confused Spike.

Spike tried to form a question, but Lucien cut him off. "It's too hard to explain. Especially if you've never used magic before." He waved his hand up and it glowed a faint green.

Spike shrugged. "Whatever." he said.

"I suggest we get going. It's going to be twilight soon, and it would be bad if we were late." he started toward the door.

"Alright then." Spike said, following him.

"And that's how it will work." Lucien concluded his "brief" explanation of how he's going to build a house. "Any questions?" he dared to ask.

Pinkie's hoof shot straight up first. "Ooh! Me! Pick me!" she shouted.

"Hmmm..." Lucien pretended to look around the small group of Twilight's friends. His eyes settled on Pinkie. "Ah! You! In the pink!" he pointed at her.

"Yes! Alright, hmmm... What was I gonna say... Oh! Right!" she settled on a question. "So what you're saying is that the auspicious moment of the sun setting will allow for more mana to flow through you! And, by doing that, it would allow you to use more mana in one sitting! And then, combine that with Zecora's potion, you'll be able to do one HUGE mega-awesome feat of magical spectacularness!?"

"Uh, yes...?" Lucien decided to answer, having no idea how she was able to grasp that concept so easily. It had taken him years to comprehend what that all meant. "Any other questions?" he asked once again.

Rarity raised a hoof before speaking. "I'm afraid I still don't quite understand what makes a time an auspicious moment." she asked.

"Excellent question, Rarity!" he exclaimed. "An auspicious moment is formed when a great event happens, usually one that changes the world in a large way. This, of course, also means that entire days can be viewed as auspicious moments."

Rainbow cut in. "So name one." she said.

Lucien rubbed his chin. "Well, the easiest one I can think of is the birthdate of a god, or goddess." he looked at Twilight pleadingly when he said this, encouraging her to step in. Luckily, she did.

"I think that's enough questions for now, girls. The sun's about to set, and we should let him get this done so he can begin living by himself." she looked at Lucien, motioning him to "go on".

"Well thanks." he said flatly.

Twilight face-hoofed. "I didn't mean it that way! It's just- oh never mind! Go get started with your ritual, or whatever it is that you're gonna be doing." she huffed.

He gave her a crooked grin, and drew his athame. He held it in his left hand, and conjured the potion that he had left at Twilight's in his right. He put the knife above the bowl, then glanced around at the Elements, plus Spike. He brought the dagger down into the Jello-like concoction. It made a squishing noise, and he proceeded to cut up the stuff into four separate slices.

He picked one such slice and shoveled it into his mouth. He quickly chewed it and swallowed. Almost immediately could he feel the new power coursing through him, doubling his already-large reserves of mana. His body began to glow a faint green, and the light from the sun dimmed as the celestial object began to sink below the distant mountains.

Lucien put down the bowl of pseudo-Jello, and raised his athame higher into the air. It gained light, getting brighter by the second. He could feel the power flowing through his arms, and into the worn piece of equipment that he trusted completely. He had been through thick and thin with that knife, and he'd be damned if he let it break.

The knife in question happened to be getting brighter, and hotter as well. It started to burn his hand a little, but still, he didn't stop what he was doing. There was no turning back now.

The dagger's glow elongated, getting much taller and a little bit wider. Lucien then realized that it had transformed into a glowing sword of some kind. With a shout, he buried the whole thing into the ground, all the way up to the hilt.

The ground around its entry began to glow a similar green, and then cracks began to form and branch out to either side of it. They traveled fast, and then they stopped, meeting at the end of a large rectangle. Lucien relaxed his grip on the handle of the glowing sword, now just slightly leaning on it.

He knew that the spell would carry out on its own; he didn't have to continue guiding it. He had pushed the spell over the metaphorical hill, keeping it on a set part no matter what he did. "Well, of course, I could just let go of the sword and cancel the whole spell." he thought, but why would he want to do that?

The ground encased by the lines shifted and trembled. Then the group gathered watched in silent amazement as the ground began to rise up in the rectangular shape. As it grew taller, indentations and holes were noticeable all over it's new sides, and the party realized that the holes were there on purpose. It was a house, after all.

But what a house it was going to be! The whole construct itself is massive, at least by Ponyville standards. It continued to rise, breaking the second store, and preparing a basement. Then, it stopped abruptly, leaving in its wake a gigantic, two-story mansion.

The athame returned to its regular form, and Lucien stepped forward to pull it out of the ground. He sheathed it, then turned to face the Elements, who were all staring at the house in open shock.

"Wanna go check it out?"

Chapter 5: The Dealer

The onlookers stared open-mouthed at the newly risen two story mansion that sat in front of them. It wasn't the way you would expect it to be either. i.e. some crappy, disproportionate house that some idiot on Minecraft would attempt to build.

Nah. This was the real deal. When Lucien used that potion along with his Earth focus, he used all the earth. Not just dirt.

The house was perfectly proportioned, made from quartz sandstone and other varying sedimentary rocks in complimentary positions. There was an abundance of detailed engravings on the walls, columns, and arches. The whole thing just looked badass, with a side of awesome.

"So, in result, you're all looking at a Greco-Roman style mansion, complete with the bases for crafting tables, arcane enchanters, and chemistry tables, along with a working kitchen, bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a basement workshop. Ready to see it all?" Lucien said to them without turning around.

He walked forward through the open entryway. "Gonna need a door here..." he said to himself. He walked into a smaller foyer, complete with a limestone coat rack and end table. He walked through and entered into a semi-large open area that split off in three directions.

Lucien turned to make sure they were all still following him. They were, of course, he just wanted to see their stunned expressions again. "They really are struck silly by this, aren't they?"

He looked off to his left. "That would be the grand room. I call it grand because its where I would go if I wanted to impress someon-" he caught himself. "err.. somepony." He continued.

Lucien vaguely gestured to his right. "That would be the study, complete with a desk and stone lantern. And windows," he added. "Gotta remember to get some glass . . ." he mumbled to himself once again.

He looked forward, and pointed to the left corner of the entryway. It hosted a spiral staircase heading both up and down. Every once in a while the wall covering the stairs would be broken by a small rectangular window. "So that staircase goes up to the second floor and the basement. There's nothing to really see on the second floor; the only things up there are my bedroom," "Missing a bed." he thought. "and there's one extra bonus room that I can do anything I want with." he leaned towards Twilight and Rainbow. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm thinking either a game room or a practice room."

Lucien waved his hand forward and to the right. "That door goes toward the guest bedroom, on the left, and the kitchen, on the right." He spun to face his audience. "Any questions?"

By now, they had all gotten over their surprise. Spike raised a claw. "Now that it's done, can we go look around?" he asked, unsure about what Lucien's answer would be.

He spread his arms out wide. "Go for it," he said simply.

They all broke into smiles and laughter as they went out to go explore the new house. Rarity went to go examine the grand room, probably considering what decorations to put into it. Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash ran up the staircase to go check out the extra room; all thinking the same thing: GAME ROOM.

Twilight went the opposite direction. First, she took a brief peek inside the study, which looked oddly similar to hers, just cleaner. Then she turned around and went downstairs to go check out what he had done with the basement laboratory. Meanwhile, Fluttershy went to go look at the kitchen and pantry area.

All that remained was Pinkie Pie. She stood there with a big grin on her face.

"Yes?" Lucien inquired carefully.

"You just got a new house. Do you know what that means?" she asked back.

"It means... that I just got a new house...?" Lucien said, confused by Pinkie's question.

"And that means that you need a housewarming party!" she exclaimed, confetti shooting out from behind her.

"This'll definitely be interesting."

Meanwhile, in the capitol of Equestria, a certain unicorn slowly walked through the marketplace. She peeked through the stand of ponies hawking their wares to uncaring customers.

She knew what she was looking for, and who to find to get it.

Bronze Gear passed through another set of stands, these ponies all offering articles of clothing, most of them for the head. Her eyes passed over fedoras, bowler hats, even some turbans. Her eye caught what she was looking for though. In front of one such stand, this one had a tent attached to the back, there stood a lone, elegant, black top-hat.

She strode over to the tent-stall confidently. Just as she began reaching for the hat to summon its owner, it was enveloped in a deep green glow. She looked up in surprise to see a unicorn walk out from between the tent flaps.

His coat was light blue, and he had a messy mane that was colored dark blue, with cyan streaks breaking it up. Or was it the other way around? Anyway, he was also wearing a plain black vest over a burgundy undershirt that had the sleeves rolled up.

The top hat landed gently on his head, and he reached a hoof up to reposition it. "And to what to I owe the pleasure of meeting with you again, Bronze?" he asked it in a quiet voice, but Bronze Gear could hear him just fine, even over the din of the marketplace.

"I -uh- just came to get some more of your special wares," she said timidly, wondering what it was about him that caused her self-confidence to evaporate.

He nodded. "Follow," he said, then he turned to walk back into the tent.

Bronze got a little excited at this. The last time she had bought from the unicorn was when she met with him in a "business" meeting that her friend had talked her into going. She looked back on that, remembering the mysterious ways his magic worked. . .

Bronze Gear stood next to her friend, another unicorn named Oil Slick, in the dimly lighted street. They both were gazing down a dark alleyway that was sandwiched between a pawn shop and a cider pub. The shops were both closed, and it gave an eerie, empty feeling to the two of them.

"Are you sure about this?" Bronze asked Oil.

"Yes. Well, mostly. Let's just say about 70% sure, alright?" she said back, not very reassuringly. "What I do know, though, is that the worst he'll do is rip us off. I hear rumors that he's sworn to never harm another pony."

"Rumors." Bronze Gear thought before catching herself. "Not gonna think like that, it'll just make me unsettled."

"Well? Let's go." Oil Slick said while walking forward into the alley. Bronze had no choice but to follow.

They crossed over the threshold together, and Bronze shivered when they crossed over into the shade. Something about it all just seemed to be too shady. They made it a few steps in, and Oil shrieked randomly.

"What is it?" Bronze asked, automatically lowering into a battle stance.

"I think it was a rat!" she exclaimed, looking around her hooves for the rodent.

Bronze rolled her eyes. "Let's just get a move on, alright? The sooner we meet, the sooner we're out of here."

Oil's breath rate returned to normal. "Right. Sorry." They pressed forward.

Soon enough, they came upon an open area, one dimly lit by some lanterns that cast shadows dancing along the walls. The area was empty, besides a few pieces of trash here and there.

"We're here!" Bronze called out, wishing that she could be anywhere else. Nothing happened immediately.

"Maybe there's something around here that will get his attention." Oil suggested, and the two began to search the ground and surrounding walls for anything that might give off a signal to the one they were meeting.

Bronze went to go look by some of the lanterns, while Oil began picking through the articles of trash scattered across the ground. After a few minutes, they didn't find anything useful.

They both met back in the center. "Maybe we should just come back tomorrow." Oil Slick said hastily, wanting to get out of the creepy alley.

"That sounds like a great idea." Bronze Gear quickly agreed. They started back toward the entrance.

Suddenly, and quietly, a pony came into existence before them, like the fabric of reality just stretched over his form. "Leaving so soon?" he asked softly.

The two unicorns screamed and grabbed onto each other in fright. When they saw what, or rather who, it was, they both calmed down. "No! No we're not leaving so soon!" Bronze said in between gasps.

"Good. Then we may begin?" the pony asked, gesturing behind the two startled unicorns.

Bronze turned around, and what she saw surprised her. Now, the empty area was no longer what it was. Instead, the whole place had been transformed. Now, the ground had been turned to marble, and the walls were alabaster white. Windows broke up the wall in several places, letting in light that was too bright to allow vision out. Multiple colored banners hung from the tops of the walls. There was now an ebony table standing in the middle of the place, rectangular and long; a meeting table.

The most interesting part about it though, is that the new room didn't reach all around the area. It cut off about halfway up the wall, fusing with reality with only a slight distortion.

"Please, sit." the pony behind them offered.

The two friends stumbled forward numbly, in shock at the sudden transformation. They took seats at one end of the table, while the pony who had appeared took a seat at the other end.

Now that they had calmed down, if you would call it that, Bronze was able to get a closer look at the one that sat opposite to her. He was a unicorn with a light blue coat and a shaggy mane. What really caught her eye was the clothing. He was wearing a black top hat, along with a ebony vest and burgundy undershirt with the sleeves rolled up. Only the nobles and ponies of high political standing wore clothes that fancy. There was something else. Strangely, he had no cutie mark.

She directed her gaze up to his eyes. They were a luminescent green. But there was something about them that went deeper, like he was looking straight through her. Bronze tried and failed to suppress a shiver.

"So," he opened with, "is there something I can help you with?" His voice was soft, but it carried a great weight to it, hammering her ears even though he sat all the way at the end of the table.

"Yes." Bronze heard herself say. "We- I heard that you had in stock certain, hard to find, magical items. I hoped that we might be able to work out a deal."

"I do suppose that we could," he said, "but what could you offer me? You heard correctly that I deal with the trading of rare magical artifacts. Everything comes at a price," he finished ominously.

"We have bits. A lot of bits," Oil said before setting a large sack of coin on the table.

The unicorn let out a laugh. It was soft, and sort of musical, leaving Bronze feel a bit sad when it ended. "I am in no need of bits. What I seek is a bit less... common," he said.

"Well what do you want then?" Bronze asked.

He leaned forward. "Listen closely; it would do you well to take careful note of what I am about to say."

Bronze Gear snapped back to reality. "More important stuff going on now. Got it." she thought before following him into the tent. She passed through the flaps.

Just like the first time she met him, she was astounded. They stood once again in the room that had suddenly existed when they met in the alley. The same windows, walls, floor, and the black desk and chairs. Her thoughts were racing, right alongside her heart, which was thumping in her chest rapidly.

"How could this place even exist in here?" she questioned. Then she stopped that line of thought. "There's a time and place for everything Bronze . . ." The words of her old teacher, Professor Birch, echoed in her mind.

The unicorn walked over to take a seat at the head of the table. He lit up his horn and the the chair opposite him scooted out a bit, offering its services to Bronze. "Won't you join me?" he asked, though it wasn't a question.

She took an audible gulp, and went to go sit. The two locked eyes for a moment, and she caught a slight flicker in his green irises. But, just as quickly as she saw it, it disappeared into the bottomless wells that made up his gaze.

"Down to business, then." He leaned back and spread out his forelegs. "What do you need?"

"You know what I need." she shot back.

"Yes, I do. What I really want to know is how far you are willing to go to get what you want."

"Uggh..." Lucien groaned, clutching his stomach. The party went over well, with many attendees. None of the ponies had broken anything, and the DJ was psyched, to say the least, to play for him again. In the end, he had collapsed on the grass out in the backyard. The most probable cause was too much damn candy.

Applejack walked out from the house to join him. She sat down next to where Lucien was laying. "Hey there, Lucien." she said.

"Hi Applejack. Enjoying the party?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, "Its mighty fine."

He sensed that there was something a bit deeper that she wanted to get to. "What's on your mind?"

She heaved a sigh. "Well, for some reason, I just plain don't trust ya."

He blinked. "Wasn't expecting that." It took him a moment to gather his thoughts. "Blunt. Why's that?"

She looked down at him. "You're not mad or anythin'?"

"No. Why would I be? You have every right not to trust me."

She took off her hat and held it too her chest. "Well, it just seems if ya walked up to anypony and said ya don't trust them, then they'd be mad."

"I guess so. But, I have to know, why don't you trust me?" he responded.

"There's somthin' about you that Ah just can't pin down, and Ah don't know what it is. Just add that to the fact that you haven't really given us a reason to trust you yet, and that's where mah problem is."

"Well, I haven't done anything wrong yet, not counting that rough start. I get the sense that you're the type that needs to have their trust earned, is that right?" Lucien asked.

She nodded. "I reckon that's it. An' I can sympathize with someone who just ended up in a new place they feel they don't quite belong in," she continued, rubbing her leg with a hoof.

"I'm not sure what to say then. Maybe I can help you out sometime. Now that I have a permanent house here, I should start giving back to the community. Maybe I'll get a job." He speculated on all the different options he had.

"Well, Ah'm not sure if ya could help out on the farm . . ." she went silent for a moment, staring off into the distance. Then, she stood up suddenly. "Ah've got it! Ya could work as the local enchanter or potion brewer! Ya told us that you were pretty good with that stuff, and what ya whipped up with Zecora seemed to work mighty fine."

He scratched his chin, thoughtful. "I guess I could. Thanks, Applejack."

"It was mah pleasure." she took a slight bow.

"I suppose we should go back inside, it's getting cold out." Lucien stood up.

"Ya should go talk to Twilight first."

The idea went over well with Twilight, and she suggested that they visit a nearby store to get his house in slightly more livable conditions before Lucien begins his work.

"Sofas and Quills should be right over her-" she stopped in her tracks. They had just rounded a corner of buildings by the center of town, only to come face-to-face with a closed store.

"There's a sign here. 'Closed until further notice. Please try again later.' Ugh!" she stamped her hoof. "I was hoping to pick up some extra quills too!"

"Well that's alright," Lucien tried to soothe her. "we can always come back later, like the sign says. Is there some other shop that I can get furniture in?"

Twilight thought for a moment. "The closest place is actually in Canterlot. Most of our furniture gets imported from this one shop..." she trailed off.

"Well, let's go visit it then." Lucien said.

"We can't just hop on a train and go to Canterlot without any preparation. It takes a few days to cancel any appointments and pack for a stay..." she was lost in thought again.

"Do you have any appointments?" he asked.

"I do have one thing, but it's not until tonight. I suppose that we could go and be back before then; but only if we hurry," she said.

"Great, let's go get tickets." Lucien replied, already walking off.

"Lucien, the train station's that way." she said, pointing a hoof in the complete opposite direction that he was going.

He spun around without breaking stride. "Like I said, let's go get tickets."

Twilight rolled her eyes and followed after him. "I'll meet you there, I need to go let Spike know he'll be alone for a few hours."

"OK, I'll see you there," Lucien called over his shoulder.

Twilight disappeared in a flash.

"I got what I wanted, but that unicorn still freaks me out." Bronze Gear reminisced on her latest meeting with "The Dealer."

"Alright. Here's what you need," he said.

"But what about payment?" Bronze asked.

"Just hearing your answer was enough for me this time," he said mysteriously.

"So you're just giving me all this free of price?" she deadpanned.

"Well, we all have our own prices," he said with a hint of a smile.

She collected her newly bought items and began to walk out of the tent. "One more thing." she stopped.

"Hmm?"

"Can I at least know your name?" Bronze asked hopefully.

"A name," he mused. "Names have great power held within them. It would not bode well for me if you knew mine," he said.

Her ears drooped and she turned around. "Alright."

"But," he started again, causing her to stop. "if you really want to know me by something other than 'that unicorn,' then you may call me Sandcroft."

Lucien and Twilight strode through the crowded streets of Canterlot. "So, the public school houses are over that way, and the marketplace is right up there." She waved a hoof forward, and he could see a wide open area that was full of tents and stalls. It was similar to Ponyville's but on a much grander scale.

"Can we take a look? I'm interested to see what this city has to offer," he said like a child wanting to run rampant through a grocery store.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "That was the lamest excuse just to go goof off, but alright." She levitated a small bag into his hands. "Here's 20 bits, that should buy you something small. Just try not to get something useless." She started to switch direction. "I'm going to go to the library over there. I want to say hi the old librarian that works there. She gave me my first book," she said, already starting the walk down memory lane.

Lucien nodded earnestly. "Alright, I'll try to make it last." Twilight walked off in the direction of a large brick building that had a clock at the middle of the top. There were several large pillars by the entrance, and a few stone lions perched by the clock. "That building looks really familiar... Ah, well. No use in dwelling on it."

He began strolling through the stalls, ignoring the glances and stares he was recieving now that he was alone. "Purple pansies, pantaloons, pink pies, paperweights, parakeets, petunias, pineapples... Everything that starts with a 'p'?"

He stopped, his eye catching a faint glow coming from in front of a tent. He weaved his way through the crowds of people to walk up to the back of the tent. Lucien slowly crossed around, wondering what it was that caught his attention so well. He reached the front.

There was a lone table set up, and the tent's flaps were closed, greatly limiting his view inside. A black top hat stood on the table. "Weird." he thought as he reached to pick the hat up. Suddenly, it shot into the air and sped off behind him. Lucien turned quick to see the hat land on top of the head of a blue unicorn.

It was clear right away that he was different from the rest of the rabble. He was wearing clothing, for starters, and the biggest thing was the almost-visible magical aura he was giving off. "Good afternoon. Is there something I can help you with?" he inquired politely.

Lucien stared for a moment longer, then spoke. "I was hoping to browse your wares. This tent caught my eye, and I wanted to see what you were selling."

The unicorn chuckled. "Well, I happen to deal with certain, hard to obtain, items. Mostly in the magical department."

At this, Lucien's suspicion went up, but so did his interest. "You don't say. May I have a look?" he said cautiously.

"Of course. But, do be a bit quiet about it please. The stalls next to me don't like it when I make a racket." he said.

Lucien's lowered his guard. "I'm sure there's nothing to be worried about," he tried to tell himself. But, his instincts spoke differently. They were all screaming that something was off here, but his interest overruled. "When am I gonna get another chance like this? I'm not going treasure hunting anytime soon."

"Right," was all he opted to say.

"Follow me, then," the unicorn said while walking into the tent.

Lucien followed closely behind. He pushed the flaps to the side and took a look at the interior. It was an extremely small space. Most of it was occupied by a cot and a trunk. The unicorn walked over the the trunk and opened it up. Lucien was at an angle that he couldn't see what was inside, but he could hear a lot of metal scraping together.

After a few moments of looking around, the unicorn exclaimed, "Here we are!" and pulled out a purple crystal about the size of a dollar bill. It was choppy on the edges, like it had been torn off a rock by a clumsy miner. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to have a faint glow.

One thing was for sure though; it was giving off massive amounts of magical energy. It was unfocused, leaving the excess mana dripping onto the ground. Only he could see that last part though.

"What is it?" he asked.

"This is Arcadium, one of the most powerful, naturally-occurring substance found in Equestria. It holds great power, and can be used to power generators, create chemical substances, and," he shifted his gaze directly to Lucien's, "to fuel spells."

Lucien's mental alarm was set off immediately by that. "Why did he give me that look? There's something else behind him that I'm not seeing . . ." He dipped his gaze into the waters of flowing mana. He looked at the unicorn while his back was turned.

He gasped in shock. "He has absolutely no aura! It's just empty space around him! What?! How?! It was practically in plain sight outside!" He was freaking out at this point.

The unicorn turned around, holding a shard of the Arcadium in his hoof. He looked at Lucien confusedly. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

Lucien shook his head a little to quickly "No! Uh, no. There's no matter! Hah!" he threw his arms forward. "What're you talking about man? Heh. Heh heh." he held his hands behind his head while face-palming mentally. "That was your worst attempt at lying that I have ever seen. Ever."

The unicorn just nodded. "Alright then. So, are you interested in this?" he held up the glowing Arcadium.

"He actually bought it." "Um, yeah. Sounds good. How much?" Lucien asked.

"Well . . ." the unicorn brought it to his face for closer inspection. "This one only has a few charges in it, plus a few nicks on the sides. I'll put it at about 10 bits." he said before setting it down on a desk.

"10 bits. Alright." Lucien opened up the bag of coins Twilight gave him. He pulled out 10 and gave put it on the desk next to the Arcadium.

The bits were enveloped in a faint green glow, then were lifted into a nearby ornamental jar. "Thank you, come again!" the unicorn said happily.

"Thanks." Lucien said before grabbing the crystal and putting it in his backpack. He walked out of the tent, shielding his eyes from the harsh afternoon light. "Better go meet up with Twilight."

He walked off. But what he didn't notice was a certain bronze-coated pony walk up to the tent he had just exited. The top hat was once again on the table, and the pony reached for it. It was enveloped in a green glow, then it flew off to rest on its owner's head.

Lucien stepped into the library. Like all the other buildings in Canterlot, this one was huge, stretching many stories upward in long, curved bookcases. So, naturally, books were everywhere on the walls, leaving Lucien to wonder how some of them would be retrieved.

He spotted Twilight immediately. She was talking to a tan mare with long, white hair. She wore a pair of red reading glasses and had a cutie mark of a rolled-up scroll. He walked over and waited for the two to wrap up their conversation.

Lucien was able to pick up on a few scraps of their conversation. Twilight was talking about some old mage pony, and the librarian had an obviously fake smile on that read, "STOP TALKING."

"Uh, Twi? You done?" he prodded her foreleg and she turned to him.

"Oh, Lucien, you're here. Yes, I suppose we should go now." she turned back to the librarian. "Well, Quill, I'm glad we could catch up like this. We should meet up the next time I'm in town!"

"Yes, of course dear. Bye now!" Quill gave Lucien a silent nod of thanks once Twilight's back was turned.

The two walked out of the massive building. "So," Lucien began, "did you enjoy seeing her again?" he asked.

Twilight gave the building another glance. "Yes, I did. I'm not sure I can say the same for her though. She was really surprised when I came in; not the good kind though."

"I'm sure she was delighted to see you," Lucien said. They walked in silence for a few moments. "So . . . I guess we should go pick up some furniture now, huh?"

"Yeah, furniture. Right." Twilight seemed a little distant, but Lucien let her be. They continued walking in silence until they arrived at the store.

Author's Notes:

SELF-INSERTION BITCHES!

Just kidding, actually. The new character and I share nothing in common but a body. Our personalities are completely out of touch. (not counting clothes either)

Sandcroft is a background character, but he still has a lot of importance. He will be an out-of-bounds recurring character. He will be explored a bit more later, but not as many times as he was visited this chapter. I may put in a flashback or some other reference to something he did in later chapters, but like I said, this is the largest amount of times you will see him in one chapter.

I would like to take one moment now to thank everypony sticking with this story, and I wanted to spotlight: tiberius, kragor123, and Tyrex for giving me a lot of support with this story. I know that other people contributed, but these three gave me a lot of help bouncing around ideas, and they stuck with this story. It really means a lot to me, thanks. I would also like to thank you all for putting up with my lazy ass. I understand how long it's been since I updated, and if you are reading this, I can't even describe my gratitude.

One moar thing, I wanted to spotlight somepony else's story instead of my own. Check out this story by Coltsguy. [Side note: Don't let the first few chapters put you off by mistakes in grammar, or length, it gets better. His story is an excellent example of what my first couple days in Equestria would most likely be like.]

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Hey so this is the (slightly) edited version of the chapter. Just a few adjective changes, most in the description of the house, and many, MANY grammar mistakes to fix. Most could be deemed unnoticeable, BUT THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

Chapter 6: Parallels I

Betcha' think shit's gonna go down now, huh? Well, sort of.

Lucien reached across the counter and slammed down his fist. "70 bits for a crappy sofa?! That's outrageous!" he barked at the sofa store owner's face.

"70 bits is where it's at, 70 bits is where it stays!" the shopkeeper yelled back, slightly leaning toward Lucien's face.

"It's a rip-off! I demand a lower price!" Lucien said angrily, leaning toward the shopkeeper.

"Well you're not getting anything lower! Deal with it!" he leaned closer.

"Maybe I won't!" Lucien leaned closer.

"Then get out of my shop!" screamed the store owner. By now both of their heads were touching and they were snorting in anger.

It was then that Twilight decided she'd seen enough. "Mares, mares, you're both pretty. Can we just get a sofa and go?" she said forcefully.

The two looked at her in surprise, their anger towards each other forgotten momentarily. "Fine. Fork over the bits."

Twilight opened her saddlebag and pulled out a coin bag. "65 bits." she stated.

The shopkeeper's eyes widened. "Oh, no. That's not happening," he said firmly.

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Oh? Then I suppose we'll take our business elsewhere." She turned to Lucien. "Let's go."

He was stunned, but then realized what she was up to. He put a look of anger back on and said, "thought you'd never say so." He began to follow her out the door.

"5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1," Twilight counted under her breath.

"Wait!" the shopkeeper called out.

"Works every time."

They left the shop with a large sofa in Lucien's magical grasp. It was brand-new, sporting a dark red-velvet cushion with a gray finish. The arms were made of wood and covered on the top by the velvet. Rarity would be jealous.

Lucien started to spin it around aimlessly, bored and tired of walking. He began to inspect it for any damages, and to make sure that nasty storekeeper didn't piss on it or something. He had just finished scanning the top when Twilight spoke.

"We're here," she said, startling Lucien.

"Whoa!" his grip faltered, and the sofa started to fall. "Nope!" he said before catching it just before it hit the ground. He put it securely back in his magical grasp and turned to Twilight. "Heh heh heh," he laughed off his excess adrenaline.

"That needs to go in the back car, it won't fit with everything else," she said.

"Alright, I'll go put it in." He started to walk to the back. "This whole thing seems a little familiar," he thought before reflecting on a similar moment.

Draco, the man he had eventually come to think of as his dad, was leaving. The two were at a train station on the outskirts of Venice. He had grown old during the time they spent together, now sporting a clean cut white beard and matching white hair. His face was now covered in wrinkles, mostly concentrated around the corners of his eyes and mouth from so much smiling.

Lucien was 21 by then, and he had really grown up. Gone was the scared little boy entering a brave new world with a strange man. In his place stood a young adult, ready to start his adventure as a journeyman mage. The years that had led up to that moment were grueling, and filled with hard work and failure. Many times he had performed clean-up duties to fix experiments that had gone bad. He was proud to call himself a learned practitioner.

Steam blew out from the train's sides, causing a few loose papers to swarm up and flutter back down. People passed by the two, but none of them paid the pair any attention. To them, Lucien and Draco were just a father and son saying goodbye.

"Lucien," Draco began, "the train's leaving in a few minutes."

"Well," Lucien said, clapping a hand on his mentor's shoulder, "I guess that this is goodbye then.

"I suppose it is." Draco sighed. "Before I go, I just want you to know that I'm proud of who you are now, and that you've stuck with me for so long. There are few people in this world that have such dedication to this trade, and it's even more of an accomplishment because of how young you sill are. These last few years have been some of the best in my life, and I know that it's time for us to part ways, but please come and visit me sometime, eh?" he finished with a smile.

Tears began to form in Lucien's eyes. "I promise I will. I won't ever forget you or what you did for me. I get how hard it must have been to take me in when I was so small. And you had no idea what would happen either."

Draco laughed, a deep booming noise that caused a slight pause in the crowd shuffling around them. "That is true, and just look how you turned out, huh? No worse for the wear!"

The conversation paused at this point to allow both magicians to gather their thoughts and push back their tears.

Draco broke the silence. "I know that what comes next won't be easy, but we both know that it's necessary. You have to go through with it all, even if it means leaving me behind. Are you prepared for this?"

Lucien nodded, tears silently streaming down his face. "I am. I'll make you proud."

The two embraced warmly, saying their last goodbye. It lasted for a few moments, but was broken by the train's whistle. Draco broke the hug and pulled back, holding him at arm's length.

There's something I wanted you to have," he said, before reaching for his suitcases that sat to the side of the walkway. The crowds had thinned out considerably, now that the travelers were all on-board, and the loved ones had said their final farewells. Draco grabbed a backpack. One that seemed to be completely ordinary.

"This here is my final gift to you. Inside the pack lies a journal with some practice spells written in, along with many empty pages for you to record your findings. There is also an athame. ready to be imbued with an elemental focus. We both know how much you like your elements." He handed off the pack.

"This feels empty," Lucien said, unzipping it.

"The bag has a few more uses." Draco said, reaching out to stop Lucien from unzipping it fully. "Those you can find out for yourself. Farewell." he said, clapping his hand. The old man grabbed the rest of his luggage and started to roll it onto the train. It started to move, and Draco raised out his hand in one final wave goodbye. Lucien returned the gesture, managing to hold a bitter-sweet smile on his face.

When the train had departed, Lucien turned to go back to the empty house they had shared. His mentor's parting words echoed in his mind. He passed through the station's waiting room, full of dust, litter, and old, dried-up gum. He strode through the doorway leading out to the blinding sun.

"I'll make you proud."

Lucien didn't realize he was crying until he reached a hand up to scratch at his cheek. "Those last few moments were pretty heavy. Have I made him proud yet?" he thought. "That was decades ago. What have I accomplished since then?"

He jumped as the train whistled again, breaking him out of his thoughts. He levitated the sofa into the back car and started to walk back to the passenger car he and Twilight shared.

Bronze Gear walked out of the marketplace with a chill down her spine. She got what she had wanted from Sandcroft, but she still felt unnerved that it was so easy. She turned her head around to take one last look at the place before turning around the corner of the library. "Just so weird . . ."

What Bronze didn't notice was that a certain human, and a certain lavender unicorn walked out of the library just as Bronze rounded the corner.

She looked at the sky, the sun was just beginning to set. With a quick glance at the watch on her wrist, she decided to get home for the night. She had gotten what she had needed, after all. Bronze set out at a fast pace.

When she arrived home, she immediately turned off all the lights and went down to her basement. It was there that she lit a candle on the wall and looked over her work. It was all nearing completion.

It was all nearing completion. Bronze Gear had been working with her team on this project since the first day. Heck, she had been there when the idea was first conceived. It had been a total of 2 months since then.

By now, she was able to call everypony on her team family, and she was proud to do so. They had all been so compliant with every demand, every angry rant from her, every failure of the project; none of them ever left her side.

They were all still fillies and colts. Sitting in a classroom. Arguing over who got the last gluestick from the teacher.

The class was ready to present. Each group had their own project, yet all of them were very similar. In the end, Bronze knew that her team would be facing some heavy competition.

The first group was called up to present. They had successfully crafted a battery out of a lemon. There was a poster board that listed the procedure. "Amateur." she scoffed at it mentally.

The process continued. "Cliche." "Hackneyed." "Boring." "Overdone." "Amateur." her reaction was the same each time.

At last, it was time for her group to present. She teacher called them, and one-by-one they stood up and walked over to the front of the classroom. Bronze's best friend, a filly by the name of Oil Slick, had a nervous expression, and her legs were shaking. Bronze put a hoof on her shoulder and offered up a smile. "We'll do fine." her eyes communicated.

They opened up the board and set up the completed experiment. The class gave a gasp at what they saw. Sitting in front of the poster board was a potato battery. But, the battery just happened to be powering a small mechanism that was swirling around on a plate.

The revolutions on the mechanism sped up, going faster, and faster, until the top piece flew off. The class immediately broke out into laughter, and the teacher tried to shush them. Bronze's team was unfazed. Their gazes held steady, and the class settled down quickly, puzzled at why they weren't embarrassed.

Still smiling, Bronze lifted a hoof and pointed up. The eyes upon her slowly followed it upward, and it was close to the ceiling that they saw the top of the mechanism spinning, slowly descending. Their youthful eyes followed its progress until it touched the floor and continued to spin flawlessly.

It was an automatic top-spinning machine, built out of the base for a fan, the top, and a potato. To say they were impressed would be an understatement.

The whole class watched as the top slowed down, then fell over as it came to a stop. There was a brief moment of silence before they all broke out into applause. Hooves stomped the ground enthusiastically, and colts in the back were cheering loudly.

Now Bronze's team was embarrassed. Muzzles red, they turned to face the teacher. "Now, who's idea was this?" she asked them all.

Beaming, the members of the team all pointed at Bronze, who was pointing at Oil guiltily. Oil slapped the hoof down playfully, and said, "You know this was all you, right?"

Bronze's muzzle turned a brighter shade of red, and she couldn't help but smile at the praise she was receiving.

"Let me tell you something, Bronze Gear." the teacher lowered her head down look Bronze in the eye. "You have a very bright future."

Bronze took off her saddlebags and placed them on the ground. She was done reflecting on that period of her life. "A potato battery. Hmmph." she thought. "I still can't believe that worked."

She had gotten the idea from her father. He had always been there to support her, and to bounce around ideas with. She looked back on another meeting with him.

"So you just put this here, put that there, and this thing gets screwed in right . . . here," Bronze's father said to his teenage daughter.

Bronze carefully followed her father's instructions, and the thing they were making suddenly coughed to life. "It works! Thanks for letting me help, dad!" she said, hugging him around the neck.

"No problem, my little inventor," he said into her ear, hugging her back.

They had been working on an internal combustion engine, one to power a large fan with. It was necessary for his job to have a large understanding of mechanical things. He was the prop-master for play production in the Canterlot Theatres. And so, that would usually entail making his own props instead of finding them around town. It was often that he came home toting pieces of mechanical items in his saddlebags.

"What's this for, anyway?" Bronze asked.

"A small-budget play. They're calling it 'The Warlock of Zo". In the opening scene, there's supposed to be a huge tornado that strikes a farm, and whisks away a little filly from her life," he responded.

"A tornado? Well, I suppose that makes sense, given the fact that we just made a giant fan," she said, getting her mane pushed around violently by the fan in question. "Can we turn this off now?"

"Sure!" her dad laughed at Bronze's blown-back mane. He walked over to her and brushed the hair back into its normal position.

"Keep up this kind of work, and you'll go places in life, Bronze."

And what a place it had gotten her to now! Locked up in her basement, stuck working a project that Celestia herself had started, then cut off. Bronze remembered the fateful day when she was assigned the accursed thing.

It was 5 years ago. Before the Nightmare returned, before Discord, before nopony remembered the Elements of Harmony. Equestria had just had her eyes opened to the world of industry, thanks to the Griffin Kingdom's rude intrusion and propositions of trade. They had brought weaponry and armor that would never compare to Equestria's, so Celestia had an emissary acquire both weapons and armor. Celestia immediately set out to discover how they were made, and how Equestria's smiths could improve them.

There were no wars going on, or anything violent on Eqqus, it was just a time for caution.

So, Celestia called a meeting for the brightest mechanical and magical minds that she could find. Attending that meeting, as Head Supervisor of Engineering, was Bronze Gear. She had held the position for 3 years, and had come to know the Princess very well in that time. She was certain that she could unlock the mysteries of this new armor immediately.

"Everypony here? All accounted for?" Princess Celestia called out. When there were no objections, she continued. "Excellent. Would everypony please take a seat at the table?" her horn lit up and the dozen or so chairs around the table scooted out.

The various innovators in the room took their seats around the table. Once all were seated, Celestia's horn glowed again, and the chairs scooted in. "Let's begin," she said, levitating an odd-looking suit of bronze armor to the table.

Everypony leaned in closer, unconsciously, to get a better look at the curious item. Bronze immediately noticed a few things. First was that the metal used on it was pure copper, giving it a dull sort of shine. The armor was done in an intricate design, mostly swooping lines that would intersect in certain places. Upon a second look, Bronze noticed that there was a pattern to the lines, repeated four times to take up the entirety of the plate. The neck line was very thick, leaving room for any clothing underneath. A set of two gauges were on the shoulder of the chest plate; Bronze couldn't make out what they were for.

The neck area had a thicker lip to in, giving her the impression that something was meant to be secured there. There were two separate lengths on the sides of the chest plate, probably for the griffin's arms. They had gears inlaid at every joint, all connected by various wires. They were there most likely to aid or speed up movement.

All of these things were noted in Bronze's mind within the minute that followed Princess Celestia placing them on the table.

"I will pass it around the table so everypony can get a closer look at it," Celestia said while beginning to start it around. "Now, it is my professional view that neither of these objects have any enchantments on them, so we don't have to worry about any magical traps and such.

Each professional took a quick view of it, then passed it on to the next in line. The pony to the left of Bronze, a midnight-blue unicorn, and he placed it on the table. He stood up and examined it with his hooves. While he was searching for something, Bronze noticed a small latch, just under the right arm hole. She reached over and undid the clasp by pressing on it with her hoof.

The unicorn noticed her movement, but before he could say anything, the chest plate sprang open, revealing an intricate array of mechanics. He stood open mouthed at the work on the inside of the armor.

Bronze noticed something else. While it opened, a wire moved. While this would probably not be odd for something so mechanical, it was how it moved that caught her eye. The wire was set to stretch along the part of the inside where the clasp was, and as soon as it opened, the wire was pulled. It got yanked out of its socket and then broke.

She realized what the wire was for just a second too late. The wire ran quickly through the array of gears, pulled toward an unknown goal. A small sphere in the center of the back of the plate was spinning, pulling the wire around, towards it.

The wire reached its goal, and Bronze threw out her hoof to try to push away the plate.

She was too slow. The sphere exploded in a flash of red, spreading bits of metal outwards. The insides were shredded, along with the face of the unicorn that was hovering over it.

Everypony in the room reacted instantly. Half sprang up to help the poor soul who's face had just been ripped up, and the other half immediately immobilized the chest plate. Princess Celestia rose quickly, and shouted for the guards stationed outside the room. Bronze heard her tell them to get the pony to the infirmary as fast as possible.

The unicorn was carted out in a field of magic. The rest of the present ponies then analyzed the chest plate through-and-through, to make sure that there were no more traps. After a few moments, each glow around the piece of shredded armor faded, with nothing being tripped.

Everypony had checked the thing for traps, save Bronze Gear. She was still sitting there, numb with shock. Her eyes were stuck on the ceiling, where multiple shards of metal were still stuck.

The Princess sat back down, and said with a steely expression, "I believe that's enough excitement for now. Thank you for your help, but you all may go now." With that said, the ponies began to file out of the room.

Bronze kick-started her legs and told them to direct her to the door. She was going to be the last one out, but then she felt a hoof on her shoulder. It was the Princess. The glass-like coating of shock that had settled over Bronze's mind shattered. With a yelp, she fell to the floor, sobbing.

"You saw it, didn't you?" Princess Celestia asked neutrally.

Rubbing her snout, Bronze rose. "Y-yes," she said in a quivering voice.

The Princess sighed. "Alas, it was too late to save him. I did notice you try to push away the chest plate though."

Bronze's eyes floated back to the spot on the ceiling with the shards. Opting to stay quiet, and not trusting her voice, she just nodded.

The Princess followed Bronze's gaze behind her shoulder and noticed the metal stuck to the ceiling. She wrapped the bits of metal in her magical aura, then lowered them down to the floor. "Let's take another look," she said.

The two walked back over to the table, still in the same spot where Bronze shoved it. The Princess brought the shards closer to her face, allowing her to get a closer look at them. "Hmm," she grunted.

"May I have a look?" Bronze asked.

Princess Celestia gave a little start, as if she had forgotten that Bronze was there. "Oh. Certainly."

Bronze took them with her magic. She brought them close and licked one. "Gunpowder, but not like any I know," she said. Then she walked closer to the table, grabbed the chest plate with one hoof, and slid it closer. The bits of metal swirled for a moment in her magical grasp, then arranged themselves in a sort of pattern. When she was satisfied with the way they looked, Bronze lowered the construct back into the mangled piece of armor. The pieces fit perfectly where they used to be.

The Princess looked impressed. She blew on the inside of the chest plate and cleared off all the soot from the explosion. "A perfect fit. Quite impressive, Bronze Gear."

Bronze had forgotten where she was and who she was talking to, and replied, "Yeh." She was still bent over the armor, examining the amazing mechanics that had made up the inside. "It's fascinating. The craftsponyship on the gears is simply amazing. Who would have thought that the griffins-" she suddenly stopped, remembering where she was. "Oh! I'm sorry I talked to you in such familiar language, Princess!" she gave a bow, trying to make up for her slip.

Princess Celestia chuckled. "Do not worry. I understand," and she really did understand.

Bronze rose, looking sheepish. "Right, sorry. Anyway, like I was saying, it's amazing that the griffins could be this far ahead in mechanics. Some of the combinations that went into making this armor are things I would never have considered!" she stopped. "Would it be alright if I took it to my rooms to further examine it?" she asked.

"Of course, but do be careful. I would not like it if anything bad happened to my most faithful student."

Bronze Gear looked down on that same piece of armor. Now, it was a bit rusted, but still the object that had unlocked her full potential with mechanical engineering. "Where did I lose it?" she asked herself. She looked up at an old picture, depicting her with the Princess, in front of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. "When did I fall out of place?"

Lucien and Twilight arrived back in Ponyville without incident. Twilight had noticed that Lucien seemed to be bothered by something, so she left him alone for the ride and settled for a book instead. He had spent the ride gazing out of the window at the landscape rushing by.

Spike had met them at the train station, and Lucien got the large sofa out of the back car. Spike reported to Twilight that they had three visitors, and that they checked out one or two books each. He looked proud that he "held down the fort." by himself.

The trio retreated back to the treehouse and settled in for the night.

Author's Notes:

*Huff*

I don't like the new "Author's Notes:" bar. It's weird.

Anyway, here's the new chapter. Yes, I know it's short. Yes, I know it's almost been a month (holy jeebus). Yes, I know it didn't really move the plot forward. But, it needed to be done, and it was a pain in the ass to write.

I apologize it took me so long, but the last few weeks have been hectic. My days were filled with homework and studying for last-minute tests and finals in my classes. Result: crappy chapter and me feeling drained of all energy.

There's irony here. I said right from the start that I didn't want this story to be one of those stories, (that takes forever to update) but look where we are now.

Hey, at least I'm on winter break now.

No challenge this time. No reward. No rules. (BREAK THEM ALL)

______________________________________
Edited version here. Not too much changed, couple commas, spaces, and one error in quotation. And some context for the challenge part of the A/N; I used to offer a challenge to the readers in exchange for a reward that I would provide. It fell out of practice right quick, I would say.

Looking back on this chapter again, DAMN. THIS THING REALLY WAS A PAIN IN THE ASS. Boring as hell, exposition. Necessary, but not quite so exciting.

Chapter 7: Deal

Lucien returned to his house just as darkness began to fall. Nothing remarkable happened, so he settled in for the evening. He grabbed a book on the properties of magic in Equestria, then read until he fell asleep.

Lucien woke up at the break of dawn. The sun was just cresting over the giant mountain that supported the capitol city of Canterlot. He got up out of his bed slowly, stretching his joints. He gazed out the window to look at the sunrise, feeling a little bit homesick. He would always wake up early to see the sun break over the snow outside his house.

He sighed. "I can't let homesickness get to me now." He walked downstairs to the living room in his house, now complete with a brand-new sofa. No sooner did he flop on it than he heard someone knocking at his door. He groaned and walked over to open it up. "How may I help you?" he greeted.

He didn't recognize the skittish pony behind the door. She was a light cream colored mare, with a burgundy mane. She introduced herself as Roseluck.

"So, Roseluck," Lucien started, "what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could request a potion to be made," she said carefully.

"That all?" he thought before saying, "Okay. Would you like to come inside and tell me what it is you want?"

She relaxed a bit at his offer. "Alright," was all she said before following him inside.

Lucien walked to his living room with Roseluck in tow. Or at least he thought she was behind him. "So, what are you shopping for?" he gestured to the sofa, wanting her to sit down on it. When she didn't, he turned around to see her standing in the doorway, mouth wide open in amazement looking at his house.

"Uh, Roseluck? Over here . . .?" he said openly.

The earth pony snapped out of her stupor. "Oh, um, right." she said, face a bit red from embarrassment. She walked over and took a seat on the new sofa. "Comfy," was all she said about it.

Lucien smiled, still standing. "I'm glad you like it. I just got it yesterday." "Well," he thought, "this is going nowhere." He lifted a hand and motioned to the area in front of the fireplace. With a little magical effort, and to the surprise of Roseluck, a chuck of stone rose out of the floor and fashioned itself into a small square stool for him to sit on.

Not even two minutes had passed and he had left his guest speechless twice.

She sputtered for a moment, and had to hide his smirk. It wasn't everyday that he could go around and show off his skills. "So what do you need?" he asked for the third time.

"Uh, well, I was hoping that you could make me a potion to help my roses grow a bit larger." she cringed a little bit while saying that last part. "Roseluck grows roses. Why is that not as amusing as I thought it would be?"

Lucien stared at her for a moment. "Is that all? Really? And I started to think you wanted something illegal!" he thought, but chose to say, "would that be all?"

She looked at him. "Yeah. If that's not possible then it's fine, I just wanted to check . . . sorry . . ." she hunched over, ready for whatever he was going to do to her for wasting his time.

Lucien saw that the conversation was taking a bad turn, and he got up, "No! No, it's fine. That's totally possible; you can do almost anything with the right ingredients and a little bit of know-how. Why, I once made a potion just to see if I could make my eyes pop out of my head in an amusing fashion! I created once that I could market off as home-made Viagra, even!" He knew he was just rambling about potions, but he just wanted to calm Roseluck down.

"Oh, really! That's great! When will it be ready?" she perked right back up.

"Disaster averted. Mission control is back online." his brain's control center relayed to him. "Well," he thought, scratching at his chin. He ticked a few ingredients off on his fingers while making note of the ones he didn't have in his bag. "It'll probably be done by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

"Thank you! You really don't know how much this helps me!" Roseluck exclaimed. "How much would that be?"

Lucien was snapped out of his thinking. "Right, the cost. You'd have to cover for the replacement of ingredients, plus the trouble I'd have to go through to get some of them..." he made a few calculations in his head. "I really wish I know how a dollar would be worth compared to a bit." he thought, having more than a little difficulty with the math. "I guess it would be about 25 bits," he finally decided.

"Only 25 bits? That's great! I thought it would be a lot more for a potion!" Roseluck said happily.

"Did I just miss out on major profit? I wish I knew how many alchemists lived in Equestria. That would help a lot."

"When do I pay for it? Do you want the money now or when it's done?" Roseluck broke his thoughts once again.

"Well, I guess you could give me the money tomorrow, when it's done," he said, hoping it wasn't too big of a mistake to accept it later.

"Perfect! I'll see you tomorrow," she said, getting up and walking toward the front door. She pushed it open with a hoof and walked out into the early morning sunshine.

"I'll get the stuff later," Lucien thought, walking upstairs to gather his things. When he got to his room, all he saw was his sheathed knife on his bed and his backpack on the floor off to the side. "I just have so many wonderful things," he thought sarcastically.

But, that wasn't too far from the truth, he knew. The knife was a heavily enchanted focus, and he had spent months charging it with mana. The backpack was a gift from Draco, his mentor and father figure. It was enchanted in a way that Lucien couldn't really figure out, and he didn't want to destroy it trying to find out. The enchantment allowed it to hold an infinite amount of space inside, allowing him to store just about anything in there as long as it fit through the opening.

When he had first opened it up, he was astonished to see that there was no bottom. Just a sort of 'out of place' darkness. He stuck his arm in (never a good decision) and felt around. Just as he had thought, there really was no bottom. He grabbed the item nearest to him, a pencil, and dropped it in. It fell, and there was no indication that it hit a bottom. He reached in and felt around again. His fingers brushed over something and he grabbed at it. It was the pencil.

Since then, the backpack had never parted from him. He always knew where it was, and (not quite as frequently) what it contained. Currently it held tons of ingredients for potions, a staff for spells that require more stability, his notebook, various weapons that he had looted from dungeons, and multiple hand-scribed scrolls. The notebook was just filled with page after page of experiments and several recorded spells of his invention. They were mostly to make everyday things easier, but there were a few more complicated ones.

Lucien resolved that he would list the steps and circumstances necessary to do the "Phase Shift" spell that he had made up. It wasn't anything special, just a cooler way to teleport. He strapped on the knife and one-strapped his backpack. He walked down the stairs and into his study. He took out his notebook and conjured a pencil.

He scribbled down the Phase Shift spell and closed it. No sooner did he close it than he heard a knock on his door. "What is it now?" he thought as he went to answer. He opened it, and outside there was a small crowd of ponies.

He stared at them.

They stared at him.

There was a small cough somewhere off the the side.

"Let me guess, you all want potions?"

The heads in the crowd bobbed, signifying their assent.

"Could you just give me one moment?" Lucien asked and didn't wait for a response. He shut the door quickly and then put his back to it. His hands rose to meet his face and he slowly slid down the door, letting loose a groan through the flesh appendages.

"This is going to be a bitch."

"Alright! I think we're done here!" Lucien exclaimed, closing his notebook with an echoing clap. He had just spent the better part of four hours taking down notes on the potions requested by the ponies that had visited him.

The copper coated mare in front of him flinched backward. "A-are you sure? You got it? Because I was only here for-"

"Yes! I have all the reagents down in my notebook, see?" he flipped the book open to a random page and turned it over, not caring that she's seeing it upside-down. "It's all written down here."

The pony tried to tilt her head to read it. "I don't really think-"

"Now, I have lots to do, and I should really get started gathering all these ingredients. Bye now!" he ushered the pony to the front door. He opened it quickly with one hand, pushing on the mare's back with the other. She was practically sitting on the floor, trying to stay put and talk to him. "ThanksforthepromisedbitsI'llgetonitrightnow." he said as fast as he could before closing the door.

Lucien turned his back around, leaned against the door, and slowly sank until he was sitting on the floor. He heaved out a heavy sigh, set his notebook on the ground, and put his hands to his face. Just like he did not 4 hours ago. "This is going to take me forever." he thought. He ran his hands through his short hair and thought for a few moments. "Maybe I'll just go see if Twilight has some reagents I can borrow."

He resolved to go visit the Library. Maybe because he was feeling lazy, maybe because it really is a lot of work.

Lucien stuffed his notebook in his backpack quickly and decided to go out the back door instead of the front. "Maybe I should have put in the extra work to learn an invisibility spell." he thought absentmindedly before slipping out.

He stood there for a moment, considering his options. "Okay, based on what I know of Twilight, she's probably going to want to do some experiment on my magic. I could teleport over there, but that would waste too much energy. I'll settle for a quick sprint. Good thing I kept in shape for running."

He set out immediately, not wanting to waste any more time standing around. He still had to collect all of the necessary items to make the potions he was commissioned for. He just hoped that Twilight would have some left around.

Lucien began at a jog, waiting to break into a run for when he got into the town proper. His house was at the edge of the Everfree Forest, which meant that it would take a few minutes until he actually got to the edge of Ponyville.

After those few minutes had passed by, Lucien reached the outskirts of the town. "This is beginning to feel like Mission Impossible . . ." he thought after taking note of the many ponies wandering from place to place. "Maybe a bit more like Assassin's Creed . . . It would work out better if I crossed the rooftops. Nobody ever looks up, and these houses will make for good cover."

He wasted no time in running up to the first building. Thankfully, it was a bit smaller than the rest, and there were some conveniently-placed boxes making a path to run up, along with a pole to swing off of. "Funny how that works." he thought, noticing the crates.

"I'll just put one foot here, then the next goes- oomph!"

With a quick creak for a warning, the crate's top suddenly split and caved in, causing his foot to fall deep into the box's interior. He stood there, half supported, for a moment, hoping to some deity that none of the townsfolk heard his mishap.

Seconds passed, then a minute, then two minutes. He was frozen "mid-wince," with his arms pushed up to his shoulders. "How many times have I been in this position before in my life?"

When nobody came to ask what he was doing, he unfroze and took the next step, this time a lot more cautiously. When the box held, he readied himself and took a leap, aiming for the pole that protruded out of the wall in front of him.

His hands stuck, and he held on for dear life, despite the fact that he was only about three feet off the ground. With a little effort, he pulled himself up onto the roof, then splayed out in exasperation from almost being discovered.

So, naturally, he only freaked out just a little bit, when he heard a confused voice come from his left ask, "What are you doing?"

Lucien jolted, almost falling off the roof in his surprise. He looked to his left, where the voice had come from. "Cyan fur, rainbow mane, annoyed/confused expression; must be Rainbow Dash." he immediately identified her.

"Well, I'm trying to get to Twilight's without being spotted, but I never really took into account that there were pegasi flying around. Whoops." he said in a decidedly flat voice, trying to play it off that he hadn't really cared if he was seen.

She eyed him up and down for a moment, before smiling. "You're no athlete."

Lucien just so happened to take offence to this comment. "Hey! Who are you to decide that!" he said loudly in a hushed voice, still trying to not be noticed.

"Well, I am the greatest flyer in all of Equestria." She said, showing off her wings and lithe body. "I think that I know an athlete when I see one."

Lucien smiled. He knew where this was headed. "I'll prove to you that I am an athlete. I'll race you to Twilight's place. If I win, or come close to winning, then I'm definitely an athlete, and you owe me one."

Dash's eyes narrowed and she flew up in his face. "And what if I win?"

Lucien pondered this for a moment. "Well, then I guess I'll owe you one. Anything else?"

"Oh, it is so on!" Dash sneered.

"One more thing," Lucien said quickly, "no wings. That's not fair."

Dash pouted. "Rrrgh, fine. But that means that you can't use magic." she said.

Lucien stuck out his hand. "Deal."

Rainbow stuck out her hoof, and the two looked at their appendages awkwardly.

"Uh . . ." Lucien fixed his hand into a fist and he bumped her hoof. "Go!" he shouted immediately, and broke into a run.

"Hey! Not fair!" he head Dash holler behind him, but he wasn't listening anymore. All his attention was focused on the buildings in front of him. "Jump here, step around the gutters, I think I can win this." he thought confidently.

Just as his hopes began to rise, Rainbow caught up to him. "Told ya, I'm the best! Later!" she called out to him before sprinting even faster.

"Hey!" Lucien shouted. "There's no way she could have caught up to me that fast." he risked a quick glance behind and noticed a few cyan feathers on the roof they started off on. "Cheater!" he thought venomously.

"Two can play at that game!" Lucien yelled to the prismatic mare two buildings ahead of him.

He sparked his hands up, readying for a spell. They lit a dark green, the signature color of his aura. "If it worked in a physics-based video game, why can't a little magic make it work in real life?" He readied himself to jump and cast on the next gap between houses. He quickly glanced up at the looming figure that was Sugarcube Corner. "That's my exit."

The next gap came fast. He leapt over the side, going down head first into the alley. "Please work!" he thought desperately before sending out the formed spell, aiming for his spot of impact with the ground. He shut his eyes and braced for impact.

But it never came.

Lucien felt the world shift upside-down, and he opened his eyes to see that he was right-side-up, and flying through the air. "It actually worked." he thought, too surprised to even notice that the blue portal below him had just closed. He was above the street in front of the candied store. He turned his head around to see a surprised-looking Rainbow Dash making the jump from the last house to the roof of Sugarcube Corner.

He started to fall. "OH SH-" was all he managed to think before hitting the ground. Hard.

Lucien had managed to land feet-first, but he wasn't ready for it, and his legs buckled. He fell to his knees instantly, and he heard Rainbow laugh somewhere off to his left. "You can't beat me, even with magic!" she cackled before running off.

Lucien shook his head, clearing it of any confusion from the landing. He was so preoccupied with winning the race that he didn't even question why shaking his head violently cleared it, instead of making it worse. "I'm not gonna lose to some rainbow-colored horse!" he snarled, before letting lose in a dead sprint.

Dash had loosened her wings, and now glided slowly over the rooftops. She had no idea that Lucien had some fight still left in him.

He ran forward, dodging around ponies and jumping various carts and stands. Nothing would stand in his way. Many of them shouted at him to slow down, but their cries fell on deaf ears. He looked ahead and saw a large stand entirely filled with cabbages.

The owner of said stand was completely oblivious to the human that was racing up to his stand. All of the stallion's attention was on the cabbage that appeared to need some love. He was rubbing it against his face, and whispering comforting things to it.

Just then Lucien reached that poor cabbage stand. He quickly switched to an Earth focus and made the ground push itself up in a ramp in front of him. He ran up it and jumped over the cabbage stand, scaring all the little cabbages and frightening the owner.

Unfortunately, he had made the ramp when he was a bit too close to the stand, and as a result, the middle of the stand got caught on the earth. The whole thing tipped over like a mighty tree, causing all the cabbages to scatter around the street. The owner just looked on in disbelief for a moment, then sat down hard on his haunches. He dropped the cabbage he was holding, put his hooves up, and screamed, "My cabbages!"

Lucien shot a quick glance back. "I'm gonna have to pay for that one later." he thought before continuing on his sprint forward. He had begun to catch up to the laid-back mare, and she had yet to take notice. The element of surprise was a very powerful one.

Thinking fast, Lucien decided that his temporary Portal Spell could be put to use again. He looked to his left at the buildings he was running by, then forward to judge the distance to Twilight's place. He even made a frame out of his fingers just for good measure. "I think this will work."

He took a left, dodging between two ponies and sliding under a moving cart in a very Indiana Jones' like fashion. He ran into the closed alley between two houses, then used his momentum to run up the far wall and climb on top of the roof. Using the top of Twilight's tree as an exit point, he charged up his portal spell and jumped through the ground below.

And instantly Lucien burst out of the top of Twilight's tree. He was suspended in the air for a moment, due to the momentum he carried from jumping down into the portal. He looked fast, and spotted his prey approaching lazily, eyes focused on the front door. "Boy is she in for a surprise." he thought maliciously.

Lucien felt all upward momentum leave him, and he fell quickly toward the ground. "I really hope I timed this right."

And, of course, he did.

Lucien fell down and landed right on Rainbow Dash's back. She let out a quick gasp before falling instantly to the ground right in front of Twilight's door, with Lucien on top of her.

"And that's how it's done." Lucien said smugly, before stretching out a hand to poke the door that they were racing to reach.

"No . . . wait . . .!" Rainbow managed to squeeze out, reaching out a hoof to try to touch the door.

"Too late, Rainbow. I won!" he moved his arm an inch forward and hit . . . nothing.

As it turns out, Twilight had just opened the door, her back turned to call out something to Spike. She spun around to see a red-faced, panting Lucien and Rainbow Dash in a very compromising position. She gasped and put a hoof up to cover her eyes. "I don't care if the two of you are mating, but please show a little decency!" she exclaimed.

Lucien and Rainbow froze, then looked at each other. Blood rushed to their faces as they realized how awkward of a position they were both in. Lucien quickly scrambled to get off of her and Dash stood up as soon as he was off. "We're not-"
"We aren't-" the two started, then glared at each other. "I didn't-" "We were just-" they spoke at the same time again.

Lucien gestured for her to explain, so she tried to calm her friend. "We were just racing, that's all. Nothing more going on here, nope!" she said quickly as Lucien facepalmed.

"Yeah, just a race." Lucien said calmly. "What are you even doing out here, Twilight? Shouldn't you be inside, tending to the library?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well," she started, putting her hoof back on the ground, "I was just about to go investigate the strange complaints and shouts that have been coming from the marketplace." She glared at the two of them and they both averted their eyes. Rainbow put a hoof up to scratch the back of her head and Lucien began whistling. "What really got me to come out side was the noise that I heard just a few moments ago; some leaves rustling at the top of the tree, and the thud that followed it. You two wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" she finished the statement pointedly at them.

Rainbow's and Lucien's eyes met for a moment and they struck an unspoken agreement. "I have no idea what might have happened." Lucien said carefully.

"Well then, would you care to explain why you were on top of Rainbow Dash just now?" Twilight smiled triumphantly, confident that they would confess.

"We were jus-" Rainbow started but was cut off by Lucien's hand. He glanced down at her with a look that said, 'just go along with whatever I say, got it?'

Rainbow nodded, and Lucien took a deep breath, readying himself to create a very intricate lie. He lifted up a finger in preparation, then spoke. "We were actually just trying each other out, really."

Twilight looked confused, while Rainbow facehoofed. "Explain." Twilight prompted him, determined to catch him in a lie.

"Uh, you know Rainbow and I hit it off pretty quickly at the start, and I finally proposed that we give it a shot." Lucien said with his best effort to ignore Dash's glare.

"So, that still doesn't explain why you two were in that position." Twilight gestured with a hoof at the spot where the two racers had landed.

"Well, when two people -uh- ponies love each other, then they start to try new things with each other, and sometimes those things-"

"Stop! We were just racing, and I'm sorry that we caused all that trouble back there! Just please, for the love of Celestia, do not finish that sentence!" Lucien was cut off by Rainbow's plea for mercy.

Twilight smiled. "So, what have we learned here?"

Lucien and Rainbow looked at each other dumbly for a moment, then Lucien raised his hand. "Doing kinky stuff is only okay when both partners are cool with it and its in private?" he suggested, causing Rainbow to stifle a laugh.

Twilight rolled her eyes and sighed. "Close enough. I believe that the message set in on its own anyway." she gave up and started to walk inside, choosing to ignore to uncontrollable laughter coming from Rainbow and Lucien.

Lucien stood to attention immediately when Twilight began to go inside. "Hold on, Twilight, I actually needed to talk to you."

She continued on her way into the treehouse, saying "Alright, come on in," as she did so.

"Awesome." Lucien walked in and closed the door behind him. "So, I was wondering if you have any reagents for potions that I might be able to take off your han- err - hooves?" he asked.

Twilight walked toward the basement. "Well, I do have some spare Tandis Root lying around down there, among other things, of course." she said, mostly to herself.

"I'd be willing to buy it off of you." Lucien offered.

"No, it's fine. I do have some extra, and it's pretty easy to come by." Twilight responded while opening the basement door. "It should be right down here." She walked down the steps into the dark.

"Uh, should I just wait right here, or . . ." Lucien trailed off, unsure of what to do. When he received no response, he said, "I'll just follow you then." He followed.

The basement was a mess of laboratory equipment and various storage containers for various items. There were just square, sliding drawers, like you would see in any office or similar workplace. Twilight was sifting through one of them as Lucien walked down the wooden staircase.

"I keep most of my ingredients in these temperature-controlled storage containers. Having a lot of them means I'm able to keep many different types of reagents in top condition all the time." She turned to look at him. "In fact, one of the boxes around here is just a vacuum, designed to keep the interior free from any air." She looked around a bit. "I should probably label these . . ."

"Yeah, that vacuum could probably be a bit dangerous. How'd you manage a spell to create one anyway? The closest I ever got to an absence of oxygen was just a massive explosion sucking away all the air." Lucien asked her.

"Well, I just had to reconfigure a force-field spell so that it would begin on a molecular level, then expand outward to push out all the air. After that, the work was just in fixing a constant stream of mana to it." Twilight answered, briefly going into lecture-mode.

"I see." Lucien put his hand to his chin in thought. "Constant stream of mana . . ." He looked around at the many boxes surrounding the two. "There's no way she can be so powerful as to keep all those spells going at once." he blinked in disbelief.

Twilight caught the motion of his eyelid. "You're probably wondering how somepony like me could keep all the spells going at once, huh?" It wasn't a question. "Well, the answer is, I'm not. I just fixed an item to collect mana from the surroundings like all ponies do. Then I set the spells to draw energy from that item." She turned around quickly and grabbed a gem from behind her. "The item, in this case, is this emerald that I 'borrowed' from Spike. You know how gems are great for conducting magic."

Lucien looked at her in disbelief. "Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from this one." he thought. "I have some more questions." he said.

"I knew you would." Twilight responded. "We should continue this conversation upstairs; it'll probably take a while."

"So that's why you were able to defeat us so easily when you first arrived." Twilight said.

"Mmmhmm." Lucien hummed. He had just finished explaining the basic properties of magic in his world to her. He was able to defeat her friends and the Princesses because of the style he was fighting in. They had all been using styles that expend mana directly from their sources, while Lucien was using a style that only cost a fraction of the mana. The one that Lucien was using was just basic elemental magic, while the others had been a form that he liked to call, "magick." The magick costs a lot more energy, but hits harder. Elemental magic focuses on the four elements of nature, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, and it allows the user to influence each element. Since it requires less mana, it naturally hits lighter. The stunt he pulled off against the Princesses was his full on magick attack, combined with a sneaky, underhand move that he had picked up from his mentor, Draco.

The two were sitting to the side of the library, occupying one of the alcoves that was scarcely used. In fact, that was where they had spent the last two hours; discussing the properties of magic and its boundaries, along with the differences between Lucien's magic and Twilight's magic.

"The conclusion I have reached, at base, is that the magic you use in your world is a lot more unpredictable than Equestria's, and it takes a greater focus to shape to your will and cast spells. But, the randomness of the magic also allows it to be shaped in different ways that ponykind is unable to do. That's what allowed you to create new spells on the fly like you did with the teleportation and that one "portal" spell that you told me about. I still don't understand how that works." Twilight summarized. (A/N: Summarized in a very annoying and time-consuming fashion)

Lucien nodded. "That's absolutely correct. And as for the Portal spell, I'm just creating a hole in the rug of space-time. Nothing to be concerned about." Twilight looked like she was concerned, but she didn't question any further. She didn't even want to know why he decided to call the fabric of space and time a rug.

"If that's all, then I think I'll be heading home. This is a lot to take in at once, and I have a few theories that need to be written down and tested." Lucien excused himself while getting up.

"Well," Twilight stretched and paused to yawn, "that was a very interesting chat. I also have a few theories that need writing down, and I want to do some more research on the Portal spell." She began to walk him out.

"No need to get up, I know the way out." He said as Twilight started to stand. "I guess I'll see you around." he opened the door and called, "Bye, Twilight!" as it swung shut.

Lucien took a deep breath once he was outside. It was dark, and the cool night air helped to clear his mind. He opted to just use a Phase Shift spell to get home instead of walking all the way back.

Once he arrived on his doorstep, he cringed. "I forgot the reagents."

Author's Notes:

Blargh. Late release again. Go ahead, be upset with me; I am too.

This was my obligatory chapter made to answer any questions about why Lucien was able to defeat the Mane 6 and the Princesses so easily. I'm looking at you, Sixpence.

Nothing else to report here, so thanks for the read, and I'll try to be a bit more on-time in the future.

'Til the next chapter,
~Sandcroft

Chapter 8: Discovery

*Three days after Lucien received the orders for potions and failed to ask Twilight about the reagents.*

Lucien's steps pounded heavy across the ground of the forest. He scrambled to get over roots and to duck under low-hanging branches. His breaths came quick and shallow, causing puffs of smoke to appear in front of his mouth briefly before dissipating into the chilly night air. "Why does it seen that I'm always running from something?"

He flinched and ducked instinctively as he heard a loud roar and a crash from close behind him. "Oh yeah . . ."

His pack was bouncing against his back with every lunging step he took, beginning to cause him pain. His dagger was still sheathed; he couldn't use it while running this fast. There was a small vial held firmly in his grasp. The contents of the vial were approximately 6.1mL of 142-year-old dragon blood, taken from the dragon that was chasing him. "It's funny how I keep getting myself caught in these situations." he thought while his body told his mind to shut up and focus on running.

He was running through the Hayseed Swamps, an area far from his home in Ponyville. In fact, it was the farthest he had been from his house since he first arrived on Eqqis. The place he had just visited wasn't even printed on any map made by Equestrians yet. It was an area populated with dragons.

The land had no trees and blackened ground, but he was certain that it had started out as a grasslands of a sort. Many years had passed since the land had seen any form of growing life, and there was no chance that life would inhabit it any time in the future. The ground gave off a sort of sadness that his heightened senses could pick up, but he was unable to make sense of it. He was, however, able to understand that it held a lament for the life that it had lost.

Lucien looked off into the distance as he cleared the edge of the Hayseed Swamps. There were rock formations interspersed throughout the skyline, and his eyes caught the glow from a few active volcanoes. He couldn't hear it from that distance, but he was certain that the cries of dragons were hung throughout the air. He sank to a knee and ran a hand across the blackened soil. He grasped some in his fist and stood up, then let it fall out his hand slowly. It had the feel and consistency of soot.

"This definitely is one of the coolest places I have ever seen." he thought as his eyes swept across the darkened ground. The sun could barely penetrate the layer of ash that acted as a cloud-cover over the whole area. He turned around and was unable to see blue sky behind him. "It's almost like I've crossed over into a whole new world." he thought with wonder. But, in some ways, he had.

Lucien began to make his way across the bleak landscape, hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. After walking about a mile or so, he shrugged off his backpack and unzipped it, searching for a scrap of parchment that he was using as a sort of grocery list. He was only doing that because he was bored and he wanted to remind himself of what he needed to get. "How many times have I gone through this process?" he thought as he picked down the list of items written on the paper. Most of the various plants and, other, items were crossed out already, but the next one on the list was "5mL: dragon's blood*," upon inspection, the bottom of the paper would reveal a few hastily scrawled footnotes, some of which read, "*caution: do not ask Rarity for this," or, "*watch for the giant rock that seems to reset EVERY TIME," or, "*if a future self tries to warn you about this, do not listen." However, the one that went with the dragon's blood simply read, "*100 years or older."

Ironically, the potion that called for this absurd ingredient was only to make the user an inch taller.

Nonetheless, he had received the order to brew the potion, and he wasn't about to refuse the large sum of bits that the pony was paying for it. He still wasn't sure how much it was worth, but the sack it was in was pretty heavy.

Sighing, he rolled the paper up and stuffed it back into the backpack. He estimated that he was about 30 minutes away from the closest rock formation, and the cries of dragons could be heard over the sounds of the rumbling volcanoes.

Lucien had arrived at the base of a towering formation of stone and rock. This pile wasn't an active volcano, but he was able to assess that it was active once a long time ago. He placed his hands on it and slowly stretched out his senses. Sure enough, there was a heat coming from deep inside the small mountain. A heat, he reasoned, that wasn't just magma.

Lucien had utilized his magic to tunnel his way into the inactive volcano. He knew that it was dangerous to do that, considering how he could hit a vein of magma at any time on the way in, but he was willing to risk it instead of climbing up into the cloud of ash. Besides, he trusted in his ability to handle something like that in any situation.

The earth rumbled again as he pushed the rocks in front of him further down into the volcano. He had been doing this periodically while he made his way down. It allowed him to have a small sight line in front of him while still being able to keep an eye out for danger on the sides. "Wouldn't want any creepers blowing a hole in my nice tunnel, now would I?" he thought jokingly.

Lucien's mind wandered during the mindless action of pushing the rocks down further. He started to think about the strange pony he had met in the marketplace back in Canterlot, along with the shard of Arcadium that he had received. Willing to spare a moment, he shrugged off his backpack and opened it up. After feeling around for a moment, he grasped the crystal he was looking for and pulled it out. It was still purple, and he fixed his gaze on its imperfections for a moment before stretching his senses out to see what it really looked like.

Lucien instantly had to shield his magical eyesight from the blazing inferno of mana that was in his hands. His magical senses dropped immediately and he simply stared at the purple bar in wonder. "How is it that something so small could hold so much power?" he thought, amazed at the fact.

It was giving off so much energy that it was visible. The excess mana gathered at the bottom of the crystal and dripped off like water. It fell to the ground and disappeared instantly, being absorbed into the earth below. There was some at the top that flickered like a flame, pink in hue. "Well, this does explain why I'm able to gather so much mana on this planet. But I do wonder how so much energy could gather inside of this crystal? What did he call it? Arcadium. Nice play on words there, buddy." he chuckled inwardly at how the name was so similar to arcane. "Maybe I'll mess with it later." he decided after turning it over once more. He slipped it into his backpack and continued into the mountain.

After a few more pushes, Lucien stretched out his senses and felt around for the source of heat that he felt earlier. Sure enough, it was right in front of him. Not fifty yards away, through rock, was a slumbering dragon. "Alright, let's just take this nice and easy--" With a ear-splitting crumbling noise the entire wall in front of him gave way into a huge cavern.

The place was enormous. Lucien's jaw was on the floor the moment he looked inside. But, it wasn't the size that stunned him. There were piles upon piles of gold coins and precious jewels all over the cave, each one lit up by a small pool of lava next to it. It gave off an effect of endlessness, seeming to stretch on forever. But, he noticed that the dragon was sleeping off to the side, just his head was sticking out of a pile of coins. How he got in that position, though, was besides the point.

Lucien, using the master stealth that was taught to him by Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad while playing Assassin's Creed. He dove around piles of coins, tiptoed around large gems, and rolled between pools of lava. He was humming the "Mission: Impossible" theme the whole entire time.

He had just reached the dragon when he noticed something glittering an odd color from across the cavern. After taking a moment to make sure the beast was still asleep, he gently maneuvered around the gold to get to the odd object. "Hey, why did the Lucien cross the cavern?" a sarcastic part of his brain thought.

"Not doing this." he thought back sharply. He felt the other part of his mind shrink back a bit.

After a few steps, he reached the object embedded in gold. It was a large chunk of some blue metal. The part that was off, though, was that it gave a strange vibe to Lucien's presence. It was releasing a calming mass of arcane energy that confused Lucien's senses. "I should probably keep this with me." he thought before pulling it out and storing it in his backpack.

With infinite care, Lucien made his way back to the slumbering dragon. "Now, all this will require it a single prick. It probably won't wake up." He conjured a syringe and a vial with a cork stopper. "It probably won't even notice me."

And that's how he got in this situation. Running for his life through the Hayseed Swamp. He took an extra few moments to think of what he did to deserve this fate. "Well, there's the video games I stole, the library I accidentally burnt down, the teeney-tiny-little-major prank I pulled in The Bazaar (and nobody was even hurt!), the bottomless pit I created as a joke, and the fact that I'm not supposed to be allowed to live in the house I have back on Earth. That's not a very good track record for the past month."

"Dude, you're supposed to be running for your life." the rational part of Lucien's mind reminded him. In all his thinking he had slowed down quite a bit. His foot caught on a rock and he stumbled a bit before catching himself. "Right, running for my life." His thought was punctuated by an angry roar from behind him.

"Okay, I can't take this back into Ponyville, that won't fly with everyone there. Or is it everypony? Nah, it can't be every'pony' because more creatures besides ponies live there-- What am I thinking?! Do I have the attention span of an eight-year-old!?" Lucien had just hit the part of the swamp that was completely waterlogged. Trees were interspersed far and few around him. "I could use a boat . . ."

He waved his hand in front of him, visualizing the make and build of a small motor attached to a dinghy. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, he was stunned to see a small boat floating in front of him. Attached to said boat was a small pile of scrap metal, the motor, that seemed to scream, "DEAL WITH IT."

Lucien facepalmed. This wouldn't get him anywhere.

Pulling on his magic reserves greatly, he envisioned something a bit simpler than a real motor. Since he was so fond of steampunk items online, why couldn't he make something to help him now? "It needs to be simple and easy to use. Not exactly what 'steampunk' is all about." After a few moments he had his build ready. With a huff, he released the pent up mana gathered in his hand. With a flash, another boat appeared, this one with a bronze paint job and a large mechanical . . . thing attached to the back.

Lucien hopped into his creation. He grabbed a handle that was sticking out of the improvised motor and started to wind it as fast as he could. The winch spun rapidly in his grip, winding up the giant piece of clockwork that was behind him. The motor that he had designed was nothing more than a large clock with a huge fan instead of hands. The winding would transfer kinetic energy into the springs and coils inside the motor, which would spin the fan at a constant rate. As an added precaution, he allowed it to work in reverse, where he could unwind the coil to make the boat go slower.

The fan began to rotate slowly. Another roar came from behind him, this time accompanied by the crashing of falling trees. "Go, go, go, go, go!" he thought desperately.

The crashing grew louder, and the water around him vibrated with the stomps of the beast. "Gogogogogogo! Yes!" the boat had built up enough energy and it shot off quickly, still gaining speed. He continued to rotate the winch.

"Now, where to go with this?" He knew he had to do some quick thinking. Ponyville wasn't that far away from the Hayseed Swamp, and he estimated that they would arrive there in about 10 minutes going at that fast speed. "I can't just drop this on Twilight. It wouldn't go over very well. Maybe I could . . . eeh, I got nothing." he steered the boat a bit to the left to avoid a tree.

"But wait . . ." He put a hand to his chin. "What if I . . ." A smile curled up on his face. "Oh yes, that'll work." he looked up to the left and noticed the large, rocky cliffs that made up the ring around the Badlands. "That'll definitely work." He took a hard left, planning to drive straight towards the mountains.

The dragon roared behind him, signaling that it was still managing to keep up. The cliffs seemed to grow larger as Lucien sped up to them. He stood up in the boat and turned to look at the motor. He cracked his knuckles and neck, then he unbent and spun his spine. Sitting like that for a few minutes can really get you stiff.

Lucien grabbed the winch with his magic, then spun it as fast as he could. The change in speed happened immediately. The sudden boost made him fall over, almost launching off the boat itself. "That would have hurt."

He got even closer to the cliffs. He could see the point where the rocks intersected with the water of the swamp. "Wait for it." The mountains grew larger. "Wait for it." He see that the largest rock stretched up into the sky like the Empire State Building. "Wait for it." He could make out individual cracks on the boulders in his direct path. "Now!" He yanked back on the winch with his magic, immediately draining the clockwork motor of all its energy, and slowing the boat down to a crawl. He didn't have too much mana left.

Lucien turned to face the dragon approaching behind him. It gave off a triumphant roar at having caught its prey. "Never have I seen a more prideful and egotistical species." He thought. "Well?" he asked it. "Are you just gonna sit there, lizard-breath? Come and get me! I've seen salamanders with more guts than you!" he taunted. "Perfect."

The dragon let the words get to him, just as Lucien had expected. It gave off a cry of rage and stomped its foot into the water, sending up a shower of droplets that rained on Lucien. "Two can play at that game!" he shouted. He lifted his hands and they glowed blue.

Right on cue, a huge wave swelled up between him and the dragon. It rose to twice the drake's height, and then it towered over the tops of nearby trees. "How do you like that, huh!" he yelled to the beast.

He thrust his hands forward and let them drop. The wave mimicked his motions, pushing forward, then breaking right on top of the predator. And, just as he planned, a reverse wave came off the back of it, propelling Lucien's boat toward the cliffs. He drew his dagger, almost too tired to lift it. He traced a spell in the air then pushed it forward. The spell was nothing more than the symbol for explode, and it used a very small amount of mana as a power source.

The glowing symbol flew forward and struck the rocks with a bang and a flash, momentarily blinding Lucien. When he recovered, he looked around and saw that he was passing through the center of the mountain. The water was flooding it, carrying his boat along with it. Just as he had expected, the cliffs were nothing but very thin spires, designed to do nothing more than jut into the air and look imposing.

He spun around and lifted a hand weakly. It glowed green and he closed it into a fist. There was a slight rumbling in the rocks above and behind him. With a single motion, he brought it down and watched as the tunnel he had just created collapsed.

The water rushed out into the dry air of the Badlands, carrying Lucien's boat along with it. Not like it would be of any use in the new climate though. He was too tired to even care though. He just washed up alongside a large boulder that blocked the sun, so he laid down on the bottom of the boat and took a nap. "Just five minutes." he thought before conking out.

When Lucien awoke, it was dark outside. His eyes opened a sliver, then closed shut again. He groaned and tried to lick his lips, but his mouth was completely dry. "Well, that's what happens when you spend a day in the desert." he thought bitterly.

He was still laying down in the bottom of the boat he had conjured. The boulder was still there, looming over him in all its rocky splendor. He had to resist the urge to say hello to it. "Alright, that's enough laying about, hop to it!" he mentally chastised himself (what would his mother think?) and then sat up. Slowly.

His back popped multiple times during its ascent, and he tilted his head to each side, receiving a rewarding, crack as a result. His whole body ached from expending that much magic at one time. He shot a quick mental glance at his internal, patented, Magic Meter to see how much he had recharged. "Three quarters full? I must have been out for more than five minutes."

He stood, and enjoyed a brief symphony played by the master orchestrators, his legs. He took in his surroundings. "Sand. Sand. Sand. More sand. Some rocks. More rocks. That's a lot of rocks. And sand. Hmm . . ." He continued to look. "Ooh! Another rock!" No matter what situation he could be caught in, sarcasm would always be on his side.

"I suppose I should get moving." He jumped off the grounded nautical vessel that had served as his bed and stared at it for a moment. "This won't do." He visualized the make of a wheel, and dipped into his newly replenished mana reserves. It drained a bit, but wheels materialized on the bottom corners of the boat. "Much better. If I'm going to defy the laws of physics, I'm going to do it with style."

Moments later he was sailing across the dry desert sand. Pushing the vehicle along was nothing other than wind that he himself was creating. "I know that this really shouldn't be possible. It's like the same principle as using two forklifts to lift each other. You can't do that." he tried, and failed, to rationalize his latest feat of magic.

He had chosen a random direction after consulting his map (uselessly) and it was promising. The mountains that formed a ring around the Badlands started to grow larger, and he thought he could see an opening between a few of them. "Maybe this will be my way out." He thought hopefully.

He reached the gap and traveled through it in a very anti-climactic fashion. "Well that was easier than I thou- . . . WHAT IS THAT."

'THAT,' just so happened to be a very large boulder rolling towards his boat in a very fast manner. Thinking fast, but not logically, he leapt out of the vehicle quickly, sending him tumbling into some bushes. He got up quickly and brushed himself off. "Now, would someone like to inform me as to why a huge freakin' rock just bowled over my brand new car . . . erm . . . boat . . . thing!" he yelled to nobody in particular.

Answering his call, the same dragon that he had pissed off earlier sprang out of the underbrush with a snarl. Lucien's eyes widened, then narrowed when he made the connection. "Oh, you again! Can't you just let it go?! Did I really even hurt you that much?!" he yelled at the beast.

The creature's eyes narrowed, and it began to pace left as Lucien went to the right. "Alright, analysis and breakdown. 'Vegeta, what does the scouter say about its power lever?' 'It's over 9000!!1!one!!1'" he snickered at his joke, but this was no time to be referencing the internet, especially when there was nobody around to get his joke.

"For real this time, analysis and breakdown." His mind sank a level to observe the dragon through a veil of mana. "Very strong. It doesn't have access to magic directly, and it's anatomy wouldn't allow firebreathing, that's good. The mana it takes in is converted to energy, which would give him a fairly good amount of time before he would get tired. I'll run a step-by-step like Sherlock Holmes." he resolved in the end.

"It'll take the opening move." The dragon leapt forward, teeth bared and jaw ready to snap. "Teeth and head will come first, giving me no option for block and parry. I'll dodge to the left, watch for the tail." He dove to the left at the last second, and rolled, but just as he recovered he had to jump over the beast's tail. "Draw my knife and launch brief slice-slice-thrust combination. Most attacks will be dodged by it, so I need to figure out another way." His knife flashed as he missed the dragon several times.

"Surroundings. I have the trees of the Hayseed Swamp to my back, and the open desert in front of me. Also in front is my smashed boat and the massive rock that murdered it. I need to create a brief distraction." Lucien's eyes darted about, considering his few options. Seeing its opening, the dragon lunged again, teeth snapping and claws swiping. Lucien sidestepped the teeth and ducked under the claws. What he did not account for, however, was the second set of claws that came whistling toward him.

They caught on his arm, tearing the light sheen of fabric covering it, and drawing blood. He winced. It wasn't a very deep wound, not enough to handicap him. With a bit of effort, he recalled a quick healing spell that brought golden light around him. "I should've expected that; sloppy. Draco always said that I wouldn't regret studying up on Restoration a little bit." Feeling refreshed physically, but a bit drained mentally, Lucien continued to work out a plan.

"Illusion magic. I'm not very good at it, but I can do enough to get the dragon to stop paying attention to me." The dragon in question happened to be glaring at him warily again. It was a bit more cautious now that Lucien was armed. "What I need is something to take its focus away." He wracked his brain for a moment before mentally snapping his fingers. "Got it."

He lowered his arms to his sides and focused for a moment. His hands began to glow a faint gray color, then he raised them to the sky. Right on cue, two small golden sparks shot out and swirled up into the air. They circled around each other, going faster and faster until it was just a ring of color. The ring shortened in on itself and then exploded in a brief flash and large bang!

"Modeled after the 'flashbang' grenade used by the military." he recalled.

The dragon was awestruck at first, unable to tear its eyes off the fantastic display of golden light, but that just means that it was hit harder when the spell detonated. It roared in anger and stumbler forward, seeking its prey. Claws swiped and teeth gnashed, but all it was getting were mouthfuls of air.

Lucien had covered his eyes with his arms before his spell exploded, thus preventing any of its harmful effects from reaching him. While the beast roared, he made his way towards the rock that had destroyed his creation. It was big, brown, and ready to roll. With a little bit of effort, he manipulated the ground below him into acting like a springboard, catapulting him into the air.

He hit the top of the boulder hard, but he stuck the landing. The nonexistent judging board gave him scores of 8-9-9. Not bad, but not his best.

Once he was situated, he looked down at the dragon. It was still thrashing about in blind agony. "Geez, I didn't think I charged that spell that much. How convenient." he thought. He gathered some more energy in preparation for the next feat of magic he was going to do. The mana pooled in his hands, seeming to drip off into the ground like water. He charged up the arcane power for a few more seconds, then slammed it all down into the boulder.

The whole thing lifted off the ground a few feet, carrying Lucien on it. The creature on the ground had stopped squirming and regained its eyesight just in time to see Lucien flying on a rock. His arms were at his sides, and he raised them up, parallel with the ground, his fingers splayed outward. The boulder broke open at the center and shattered like glass. The shards of it flew outward, held in his magical grasp.

"The easiest way to win a war is not to beat your opponent into submission, but to frighten him into laying down his weapons." The extremely sharp shards of rock all turned their pointed edge toward the dragon. Utilizing the last bit of his mana, Lucien made his eyes turn bright green.

He leaned his head forward, and whispered, "Boo."

The dragon let off a very lady-like scream and scampered back off into the swamps, leaving nothing behind but a small pile of wet sand.

Lucien let his arms go limp, and he slow let go of the magic keeping him and the rocks airborne. He sank to the ground in exhaustion, but he knew that he couldn't just rest again. He was still in harms way, and it was a long walk back to Ponyville.

One thing he decided before leaving though, was that he was gonna need a bigger weapon.

Author's Notes:

Meh.

Fun facts:
-This chapter was originally going to be two chapters
-At one point, Lucien was going to have met with the exiled Changelings
-At another point, Lucien was going to end up in Dodge Junction
-Does anyone else ship Lucien with the Dragon?

Up next in Ungrounded!
-Lucien gets a bigger weapon. The new one is going to be based off a certain video game character.
-Bronze Gear (remember her?) gets closer in her ambitious pursuits of building . . . whatever that is.
-A certain purple unicorn decides to get a little closer to a certain human.

Short: Dodge Junction

Lucien trudged through the muck of the swamp, exhausted from his fight with the dragon. The dragon he decided to call Steve. He didn't blame Steve for attacking and nearly killing him. He was the one who disturbed his sleep after all.

But now he's paying for it. His legs ached, his mouth was dry, and his mana reserves were dangerously low. At least he had gotten what he wanted out of it; one vial of blood from a very old dragon.

The busy hour of Dodge Junction was slowly coming to an end. The sun was setting in the west, just as it always does. Ponies were taking care of their last bits of business in the day. Shops were closing, and the bar in the middle of the small township was getting livelier.

As the sun gave way to the moon, the final ponies cleared off the dirt roads, bound for either their houses or the saloon. The building gave off a cheery air. One that promised good friends and good times. The light from its windows bathed the roads in golden candlelight. A player piano was making its sounds known, and laughter could be heard from outside.

Of course, Lucien took note of none of these wonderful things.

At this point, he was desensitized to just about everything around him. The only thing that registered in his worn-out mind was his need to find a meal and a place to sleep.

He looked up to the sign that hung above his head. 'SALOON,' was what it read. That clicked in his mind. "Didn't saloons offer rooms for rent? Like bed and breakfast type places? Worth a shot."

Lucien raised his arms and pushed open the double doors in a very cliched fashion. Also in a cliched fashion was the crowd's reaction to his entry. Just as he had expected, the music stopped playing on a sour note (even though it was a player piano), the crowd of ponies inside gasped, and the sound of a glass mug hitting the floor could be heard, and the bartender did not react in any way.

His mind was still awake enough to permit him to let loose a loud snort at the typical reaction. "I didn't just walk into an old western movie, did I?" he thought sarcastically while walking up the the bar. Predictably, there was only one seat open, and he took it. The occupants of the building kept on staring.

The bartender's glance lingered a bit longer that it had when Lucien first walked in. He was a middle-aged, mustachio'd pony that looked like he knew his way around a bar. He had a grey coat, and was, oddly enough, an earth pony. His ears stood attention and his forelegs were resting on the counter, the hooves themselves cleaning out a mug.

Lucien looked him right in the eye and said, "One alcohol please," then his face slammed down into the counter. He wasn't drunk yet, but half the bar probably thought he was.

He heard the bartender take his forelegs off the counter and stand up fully. The glass he was holding clinked against another and the sounds of a liquid pouring could be heard. The rest of the place was still quiet. Too quiet.

Lucien sat up straight and whirled around in his seat, hands taking a defensive position, ready to protect himself from -- nothing. Nopony had moved from any of their seats, making Lucien look like an idiot, or someone who was just really, really paranoid. He, of course, was neither of these things, but the ponies didn't know that.

Lucien heard someone clearing their voice, and he whirled around again to see the bartender holding out a medium-sized glass filled to the brim with a clear liquid. Lucien reached forward slowly, then grabbed hold of the cup. Then, in one swift motion, put it up to his lips and chugged it down.

Surprisingly, his throat didn't start burning, and his eyes didn't water a bit. In shock, he looked back at the now empty glass. "Either the vodka here is extremely impotent, or that was just water."

He looked up at the bartender, who in turn looked at a sink to his left that Lucien had failed to notice. Water was still dripping from its faucet. "Oh. Maybe he though I couldn't use a drink. Maybe he's right."

But for the moment, he had had enough of the deathly silence in the room around him. "Oh, come on!" his fist slammed into the table and he turned to face the room. "If my idea of what a western movie is about is correct, then there is no way that I'm the strangest thing you've all ever seen walk through those doors!"

The room was silent again for a moment.

Then the calm was broken by the sounds of ponies shrugging and getting back to what they were doing five minutes ago, before Lucien walked into the saloon.

"That's a bit more like it." Lucien said while turning to face the bartender.

"Lemme tell ya somethin', yah don' need another drink." the bartender said to him in a heavy western accent.

"Oh, you think--" Lucien's sentence was interrupted by a short laugh. "You think that I've been drinking already?" he asked jovially.

The bartender eyed him suspiciously. "Weel, yah do seem a bit on the tipsy side, but what do Ah know? Ah've just been bartendin' for the better part of twelve years."

"Then you should know that if I've been drinking, I wouldn't be having this conversation with you; and as a matter of fact, I haven't had a single drink in three years." Lucien pointed out.

The grey pony's eyes narrowed, and he paused in his actions of bar tending. "Ya have a point there."

"Of course, now," Lucien started, "I came in here assuming you, the bartender, would be able to get me a drink, and that you would probably know where I could get a meal and a bed." he stated.

The pony chuckled. "That's a lot of assumin' that yah've just done, but yes, I do know where yah can get a bed and some supper."

Lucien sighed. "That's great. If you could point me out to the food first it'd be a great help."

The bartender smirked and lifted up a bowl of salad from underneath the counter. He placed it in front of Lucien, then grabbed a fork from the same spot with his other hoof. He then proceeded to point to the food he had just placed down. "There's your food."

Lucien didn't respond, he just grabbed the fork and proceeded to dig in.

The pony didn't wait for him to finish to give the next piece of information. "We also rent rooms out here. I'll just go git the key and put it all on your tab, mister . . .?"

Lucien paused in his ravenous fury. "Put me down as Lucien."

He awoke the next morning feeling extremely refreshed. He sat up in the relatively small bed that he had been set up in. The room he was in felt cramped. He stood and hit his head on the ceiling. *Thump* "Ouch."

He turned his head to look at the tiny washroom to his left. He started to walk in, but his foot caught on something, causing him to stumble and hit his head again on the top of the doorframe. *Thump* "Ouch."

There was a minuscule sink attached low on the wall, next to a toilet. He turned the sink on and splashed some water on his face. He turned back around and walked out of the washroom, but not before bumping his head again on the frame. *Thump* "Ouch."

He spun around and flopped down on the bed. He sat there for a few minutes before deciding that it was time for him to get up and head back home. He got up and opened the door to the hallway. *Thump* "WHY IS EVERYTHING HERE SO SMALL?!"

Author's Notes:

Wow.

Has it really been two weeks since my last upload? I thought that it wasn't that bad. Next time the upload will come faster and it's gonna be a lot longer.

Excuse: Busy two weeks.

'Til the next chapter,
~Sandcroft

Chapter 9: Pulled Under

Lucien boarded the train to Ponyville and spent the time trying to get some more rest. He was usually a morning person, but that fight the day before really tired him out. His rest was interrupted by a rather rude stallion muscling his way through Lucien's car, basically making a lot of noise and being obnoxious. "What a tool." Lucien thought before drifting off to sleep again.

But fate, however, didn't want him to get rest.

He awoke again moments later. He sensed he was in a different place, and his eyes flew open rapidly, scanning the surrounding area for any danger. There was nothing but inky blackness all around him. A single light shone down on his form, offering just enough brightness to see his hand in front of his face.

"Ah, geez." He said before buildings erupted from the ground underneath him. "Can't a guy just get his rest!?" He shouted to the dark sky that had formed above him. "Where am I now?"

He had, of course, been pulled into Limbo; a deep, meditation-like dreamscape in which visions, and usually enemies, were presented to him. He had been there before, three or four times, and every time he had seen something that was accurately predicted in the future. It was just one of the major perks of being a mage. In short, it was nothing he couldn't handle.

He admired the buildings around him. They began ordinary, like you would see in any urban city, (he hadn't decided which) but they were tinged by a tangible darkness that had the consistency of ink. These inkspots, as he would call them, had multiple functions. He was able to manipulate some of them into forming bridges or pathways, sometimes even opening up new areas to traverse. But, there was a negative side too, some were gateways to release these fragmented monsters, he called them Nightmares, that would try to halt his journey. Once he had been thrown out of limbo because he was defeated by one such Nightmare.

The city took a more solid shape around him. Colors became darker and edges more refined. Like an artist was painting a landscape onto a canvas with rapid strokes. The buildings weren't very pretty by this point. Not only were they stained with ink, but they were fractured in many places, with impossible angles and inconceivable arches that were supported by nothing. The street he was standing on was beige cobblestone and stretched on for a few feet down the way before giving into a corner and off to the right. There was a small archway to his left that led to a gate that he would never be able to open, and he had tried with similar ones.

To his right was the back of a building, and behind him was a plain wall. How exciting.

There was one thing about Limbo that he liked though. It granted him access to some...different abilities. One such ability, as he discovered early on, was that he could jump two times. Not once, but twice. He had no idea how, but hey, nothing really makes sense in dreams.

Another ability he had discovered, that wasn't exactly an ability, was that he never got tired. Maybe it was just a side effect of him being asleep, but it helped. He could keep running and jumping forever, and swinging his dagger never tired his arms out. It was pretty cool. The negative effect that this brought was that he couldn't cast spells. He had tried, but his magic reserves were locked off for the duration that he spent in Limbo. When he woke up the first time he had such a panic over missing his casting abilities that he accidentally blew a hole in his ceiling by releasing mana without thinking about it.

The final ability was one that he had found out about with a little experimentation, and one that he had known about since his first journey there. The enemies he defeated dropped these little balls of golden energy, and he was able to gather them up just by walking near them. He had some sort of built-in bar in his mind that allowed him to gauge how much energy from the balls he had gathered since his arrival. As he gathered these golden lights, he would always start to see something appear in his mind, almost like a long forgotten, picturesque memory coming back into the front of his brain.

"Well, might as well get started." he said, breaking out into a run. He noticed a few inkspots appear on the ground a bit ahead of him. His dagger flashed and was in his hand in an instant. He recognized the Nightmares instantly, even as they were clawing their way out of the darkness. These were the grunts, the Lesser Dæmons that would try to halt his progress through the world of limbo.

They were ugly little beasts. They stood jauntily on two legs, stumbling around at a moderate speed most of the time. Their gaunt bodies were nothing to marvel at. A cerulean and white paint job was done on the light armor they had on. It was concentrated mostly on the upper torso, forearms, and calves. He had, unfortunately, seen one's face close up before. That was the worst. It was jarring, most of all. It's face, or where it should have been, was always covered by some creepy china mask that was cracked in multiple places. Ink, or whatever it seemed to bleed, poured out of the cracks, and also through the joints on its body.

Its mangled hand always held the same weapon. It was a rusted sawtooth blade, about forearm length, always held backhand. Other, more powerful creatures he encountered had larger statures, bigger weapons held differently, and usually more armor. Some flew, some had projectile weapons, and some could only be defeated by certain means that he would usually have to work at.

He rushed the first one in front of him. His dagger flew forward, propelled by the motion of his swinging hand. It caught on the inside of the Dæmon's elbow, cleanly severing his right forearm off in a splash of black. They never seemed to bleed for long. He whipped his arm back and severed his head off at the neck. The whole thing fell over and then faded into the ground like the way ink dries on a page.

Two more to go.

The first one ran forward and tried to slice at him. It was a slow, obvious move, and Lucien simply jumped over the attack and brought his dagger down in a deadly slice. The blow cut clean through and the Dæmon was reduced to a puddle of fast-evaporating ink.

The third went the a similar way. It sidestepped Lucien's first underhand strike and nearly grazed him in a counterattack. Lucien danced backward, making sure to put enough distance between him and it. Then, in a fluid motion, he feinted to the left and went in for a short series of quick stabs. Each one released a bit of ink and the final reduced it to nothing. And like that, the fighting was over. He counted himself lucky that he was left unharmed in this fight. He might face something more dangerous later on.

He collected the orbs that the Dæmons dropped and went on his way, keeping a wary eye out for more inkspots. A faded picture began to form in the back of his mind. That was probably the worst part of going into limbo. The false memory would always tickle in the back of his mind, and it would take all of his willpower to ignore it.

He sheathed his dagger after checking the area for danger. He started out on a run towards the end of the street he began at. He had a moment to think. "Would it be weird if I said that was the 'street I spawned at'?" He just gave a mental shrug and continued on his way.

He reached the end of the street and turned left. The buildings spread outward and widened into an empty plaza. There was a fountain spewing gray water into a basin. It took up most of the area. The buildings themselves were mostly uniform, and they formed a ring around the area, their high walls permitting no escape other than a small arch that was across from where he came in. The arch grew up into a gated complex that had no visible way up to the second story except two holes that were inaccessible even to his double-jumping.

Lucien started to walk in cautiously, knowing that this would prove to be some sort of a trap. He took a step toward the fountain, then another, then another. So far, so good. He reached the basin without incident. "Huh. I feel...disappointed, almost."

"But hold on. What's that?" He noticed something glowing a faint yellow just above the spew of water coming from the top of the fountain. He took a few steps backward to get a better vantage point to look at it. "Aha!" It was an abnormally large golden orb, one that would probably get him well on his way, or maybe even all the way, to forming the mental image. "But how do I get up there?"

He started to look around for ways up, but just then, inkspots began to form around him. More than a dozen. "Ah, shit," was all he had time to say before the earth shattered and erupted from below him. Stones and chunks of pavement flew into the air around him, then stopped, suspended a few feet up. They bobbed up and down gently, offering a way up. "Sometimes this place is nice to me, sometimes it isn't. I really just wish it would make up its mind!" He vented to the fountain.

He took his first jump carefully, lest the chunk of ground suddenly crash back down. When it didn't, he bounced up and down on the balls of his feet and readied himself for the second gap. He ran forward and took it in a bound. When he saw he wasn't quite going to make it, he utilized the double-jump and made it with room to spare. He skidded out a bit on the smooth stones that made up that section of street.

He looked ahead. The flying pieces of ground were forming a slightly curved path that led away from the fountain and over to the caged building across the way. He backed up to the edge of the platform and got a big running start. He had a few more gaps to clear, and he didn't want to take his time as he had no idea if he would get kicked out of limbo if he took too long.

The first gap was cleared no problem, and he didn't even break in stride. He kept up the pace and jumped the second. "This is getting too easy." he said out loud. Another jump, another smooth landing.

He stopped on this last one. He could sense something was off about the last two chunks of earth. He examined them for a moment, and then quickly jumped back in surprise as they suddenly spun and shifted sideways. Now the tops, the only part that he could jump on, were facing to the inward, seemingly inaccessible to him. "Great. What can I do about this?"

He sat and thought about it for a moment. "Hold on." He took a another look. "That angle..." he tilted his head sideways for no real reason, "I could run on the sides of each."

A stupid plan, one that would probably end with him falling and having to start at the beginning, but it was the only one he had.

He took a few deep breaths and prepared himself mentally for the task as well as physically. He sprinted, and strode across the first gap. His feet hit the wall sideways, and for a second, gravity seemed to shift. Had he initially misjudged the size of the platform, or was it getting longer? It stretched on for a bit longer, and he looked to his left to see....the ground.

Right there he almost stopped dead in his tracks. Instead, he only stumbled and kept up a fast pace. "The ground is not supposed to be there, what the hell. I'm not even drunk or anything."

As he approached the end of the pavement chunk he decided that it would be wiser to act now and question later. Luckily for him, the next platform had turned with the one he was running on. Unluckily for him, it was turning the wrong way. Specifically, upside down.

He reached the end of the street and jumped. "SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT!" His body turned while he was in the air.

Thunk! Crack!

His feet impacted the pavement and he continued running, unsure of what that loud cracking noise was. But then his foot caught on something, causing him to almost trip, and he heard the cracking noise again. He risked a glance downward and saw that the street was cracking apart. But that wasn't what scared him. What scared him was the fact that he could see a turbulent auburn sky straight through some of the cracks.

"Not good."

He doubled his speed, trying to reach the end of the platform that just seemed to continue to grow. More cracks formed, and the whole thing started to destabilize. Stones were flying off the sides of the street and falling upward into the sky. He really didn't want to join them on their journey.

The end was coming near. He readied himself for the jump to the caged building and then leapt. The gap was far larger than he had anticipated, and he barely made it in. He rolled on his side, the small amount of physical training his mentor had given him kicking in. He decelerated and then stopped rolling.

Lucien got to his feet shakily, turning back to look at what happened to the street. The majority of it was now above him, and the pieces that he had used to get up there gathered together, spun in a fashion that he could only describe as 'angry,' and then fly off into the sky.

But enough staring, he still had to find a way to flip gravity so he was on the floor again. He stepped back from the edge of the ceiling and looked up. The walkway that he was supposed to be on stretched down a ways, curving to the right. "Well, I've got nowhere else to go."

He started to run down the hall. He footsteps echoed in a way that didn't really make sense, since there were no walls to echo off of. No sense in questioning it.

He made it about halfway when a few inkspots pooled rapidly on the stretch of ceiling in front of him. Beasts began to climb up from their inky depths, baring their weapons menacingly. The four that popped up were all Regular Dæmons, more powerful and crafty versions of their basic forms. He could tell the difference because these Dæmons wore all white armor instead of cerulean. They had less holes in their bodies and some holes appeared to be filled by working mechanics. Their faces were composed of a blank-looking mask that seemed to be made of china too. These ones utilized a much more menacing-looking razor instead of a rusted sawtooth blade that the Lesser Dæmons wielded.

He heard splashing noises from above him and he looked up. There was another inkspot on the floor above his head. "Aww, shit," he said as another beast clawed its way out of the black depths.

He noticed immediately that this one was much bigger. In fact, it took up most of the puddle that had offered it entrance. The first thing that Lucien saw was its head. It was wearing a mask, just like the rest of the Dæmons that he had faced before. These Knights, as Lucien named them, possess a razor blade instead of an arm, and they also employ a shield to protect themselves. Their shields can be broken through successive blows, but they can deflect and counter weaker attacks. The shields themselves were a dirty golden color, with sharp waves on the sides that could easily do harm to Lucien. The whole thing was done in a base color of black, but with tinges of gold and red inlaid in its armor.

It seemed content to sit on the ceiling for the moment, so Lucien let it stay there. He had the Regular Dæmons to take care of first.

The first one went down quickly. It tried for a large, overreaching attack that Lucien easily ducked. It was left off-balance and Lucien stepped in and kicked it hard. While it stumbled backward, he drew his dagger and took a chunk off its mask. It fractured easily and the thing was reduced once again to a puddle of ink.

The second one seemed warier, and the third lined up next to it. The two parties eyed each other for a moment, each trying to decide on a course of action. Lucien made the first move. He attacked the one on the left first, making a show out of his movement so the Dæmon would parry it. Predictably, it did, and Lucien used the momentum to spin and kick it in the face.

His foot connected with a resounding crack and the Dæmon launched backwards a ways, not yet on its back. A mangled hand reached up to fix the mask that was now leaking ink, and when it couldn't, it tore it off, revealing nothing but a large. gaping black mouth. It screamed at him in a rage.

But Lucien had forgotten about the second one. He felt the dull side of a blade cut into the broad side of his back and he gasped at the sensation. The blow sent him tumbling forward, rolling to a stop at the feet of the Dæmon he had kicked. He had just enough time to scramble off the the right just as the beast's blade slammed to the ground he was at in a shower of sparks.

Lucien took advantage of his evasion and he sprang to his feet. His dagger flashed and then the beast was reduced again to a black smudge.

Predicting the final Dæmon's move, he jumped straight up into the air and looked down to see the glint of a blade pass below him. With practiced ease, Lucien jumped a second time and then threw his dagger downwards with as much force as he could muster. The dagger struck the ceiling with force, pushing it downwards. In response, the world pushed it back up, causing a miniature shockwave to be produced at the source.

The Dæmon was swept off its feet by the cracked ceiling suddenly falling and then rising, and Lucien took his chance to land directly on top of it. He aimed for his left foot to land directly on its head, and when it did, he was rewarded with a crack and a splash of black. The final Dæmon was returned from whence it came.

"Now, where did the last big 'ol guy get off to?" he questioned, looking up.

The Knight was back a bit, standing in the same spot it had come in from. Lucien started to run back toward it, and he felt gravity shift again. It rotated him so he was running on the ceiling, then the ceiling was slanted, then he was running on the wall when he reached the Knight, who was still on the floor.

His first slash was one filled with power, designed to pierce armor or jolt the enemy stupid enough to try to block it. It surprised Lucien when his attack was deflected easily and he was sent backward, his arm vibrating from the contact with the Knight's shield. The beast followed up with a slow attack, a sideways slash for it, but, for Lucien, a helm-breaker strike that he easily sidestepped.

The Knight's massive razor got stuck in the wall, and Lucien took the opportunity to move behind it and put a quick, three strike attack into its back. Ink was released and the Knight roared in anger. It's razor was suddenly unstuck and flying around towards Lucien. With no other option, he lifted his dagger in a block.

The vibrations from the impact struck straight through his body, but the knife held, and the razor was withdrawn. Lucien was laying down on the wall, the force of the attack having knocked him down. The gravity shifted again, and he slid slightly towards the floor. It went all the way, and he was right-side-up once again.

"Now it's on," he said to the beast.

It roared in response, beating its over-sized razor blade on its shield in earnest.

"Yeah, that's what I thought you'd say." Lucien grinned cockily.

He wound back and charged up energy. Whatever limbo did to his magic, it offered one thing in return; the ability to infuse his strikes with pure energy.

His dagger glowed a bright green, signaling its readiness with a flash. He threw it with all his might at the Knight down the hall. It swirled through the air, still glowing. The brightness left a brief imprint on his mind before the knife shattered the Knight's shield and went straight through its chest.

The gaping hole filled up with ink, and the Knight sank to its knees. "Not so tough now, huh?" Lucien approached it, put a foot on its shoulder, and shoved it backwards. It was a puddle before it even hit the ground.

He looked up and saw his dagger, still spinning, flying back to him. He lifted up a hand lazily and caught it without much effort. He gracefully sheathed it and took a bow for whomever might be watching. You never know.

"Thank you, thank you, you're too kind." After thanking the imaginary crowd of screaming, adoring fans in his head, he continued on his way down the hall. It never registered in his brain that he had collected the golden orbs during the fight, and that they made the picture much more clearer.

"Time to finish this off." He reached the end of the hall and looked off at the fountain. A few more chunks of floating ground circled around it, possibly allowing him access through. "Aw, no way am I dealing with the whole, 'upside-down' shit again."

He decided to put his skills to the test and began to charge up energy. It gathered in the palms of his hands and coursed through his being. When he thought he had charged up enough to serve his purposes, he gave it a basic command and released it. Green energy spread out in front of him in a wave, catching the chunks of stone and stopping them.

Then, quickly, they bent and snapped over to form a bridge for Lucien. They lined up perfectly and gave him a path to the top of the fountain and the prize the he sought after. "One giant golden orb for yours' truly." he said while absorbing it.

His vision faded to white, and he knew that his time in limbo was over, and that he had completed his mission.

The vision started off fuzzy, but then got clearer as it progressed, like a TV taking a moment to establish a connection to a channel. The visions he usually got were slightly moving pictures, and it seemed like this one would be similar. The pictures were all stylized, like you would see in a comic book. They were even ordered in panels.

The first panel shown to him was a hunk of metal of a bronze-reddish color that had a note tied on top with a rubber band. That raised more than a few questions. "That paper seems to be one of Earthly design, nothing like the kind produced in Equestria. And is that a rubber band? I'm pretty sure they don't have rubber bands here. And that metal is like nothing I've ever seen before."

The second panel contained the note-bearing metal again, this time it was disappearing into his backpack. The background was too fuzzy to make sense of. "Wait, does that mean there's something in my backpack that I didn't know about? Damn, I should really start keeping a closer eye on my stuff."

The third panel was of a different subject; it contained weapons. On the left were two wicked-looking chakrams, each one had a silvery blue-ish tinge to it, giving Lucien the sense that they were made of the same metal. The weapon in the middle was a sword. Very elegant, but definitely not made by the hands of a normal smith, the first giveaway being that it was made from a metal only mined by magical means. Runes were visible done up and down the length, and the blade itself had a chaotic sort of nature to it, like two opposites at was with each other. The weapon on the right took up most of the panel. It was a massive war-hammer, just about identical to the Gravity Hammers that were found in the "Halo" series. Lucien, while not being a fan of heavy weaponry, had to admit that it looked pretty badass. It didn't give off that futurist vibe though, and its whole coloration was tinged red. The collection gave Lucien a sense of conformity, like all the weapons belonged to a family, and the sword was in the middle of the two.

The fourth panel confused him. There was a shadow on the ground, one that definitely belonged to him, and the shadow put him looking at a glowing forge. But, there was an interruption. As he looked on, the whole picture suddenly shifted for a split second before putting itself back. He looked again, and something was off. The shadow on the ground was now pony-shaped, and the glowing forge was now in a different layout. There was something off to the side in the picture, a worn-and-torn saddlebag that had a design of two interlocking gears on it. An aura of strong magic possessed the image, and Lucien could sense that it ran deep with a burning ambition. The scene shifted again, and now the forge was dark. All that he could make out was a glint of steel plating far off in the back.

The panel moved again, and this was the last image. It was a single imprint of a black spade against a white background. Ink splatters lined it and made it look like the image was painted, and then had a few buckets of the stuff splashed on afterward.

Author's Notes:

What a confusing series of images.

I would like to express deep gratitude to Coltsguy for writing my story into his story, Searching for Six Ponies (and Discord if I Feel Like it) as a chapter in which-- hold on, just go read it.

I did say that the next update would be coming sooner than usual, didn't I?

'Til the next chapter,
~Sandcroft

Chapter 10: Parallels II

Lucien awoke when the train pulled into the station. He had a lot on his mind and began to rush back home immediately. The town was getting quiet; the sun was setting and ponies were packing their items in for the night. He passed through the marketplace just as the final few carts were closing up shop.

He had just gotten through when he heard a heavily-accented voice call out his name. "Lucien! Over here!"

He turned around to see Applejack waving from behind her half-packed apple cart. He walked over. "Hey Applejack, what's up?" He started lamely.

"'What's up?'! Ya disappear fer just about two days without sayin' anythin' and the first thing ya say when ya git back is 'what's up?'!" Her face was marred by a scowl, but it softened a bit when she saw Lucien's horrified face. "I didn't mean to affend ya or nuthin', it's just that ya had the gals and I worried sick! Ya gotta go tell the others that you're alright." She took her hat off and her ears drooped. "Pinkie's been trying to plan a 'Welcome Back' party ever since ya left, and she kept on askin' us to make time for it. Ah didn't have the heart to tell her that Ah didn't know when or if ya were coming back."

"Yikes. That was pretty emotional for someone that's only known me for about a week or so. Especially since she herself told me she doesn't trust me." He thought his response over carefully, dropped down to one knee, and started, "Well, Applejack, I'm sorry I gave you and the girls a bit of a scare. I promise that it won't happen again. Tell you what; go get Fluttershy and Rarity and meet me at Twilight's in fifteen minutes. I'm gonna go talk to Pinkie and get Dash."

She nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

She took off and Lucien immediately headed for home. To save a bit of time, he teleported the rest of the way. He materialized in the middle of his bedroom. He shrugged off his backpack and unzipped it on its way down. It fell on his bed with the sound of fabric crinkling. He rummaged around inside it for a moment and pulled out a green notebook.

He opened it up and was immediately filled with memories of what was and what has been. The pages held detailed drawings of the images from his three past visits to Limbo, and after each one was a recollection of the circumstances that fell around it. He went to the last drawing of the first set. It was a picture of him completing his apprenticeship under Draco and trading farewells with him at the train station. The last picture of the second set was naught but a blur of four different colors, red, gray, blue, and green. This one held a special place inside of him. He turned to the last page he had marked on. There was a picture of a rather large building completely engulfed in flame, and the following pages held the story behind it. He shuddered at the sight of it. "Not again..."

He turned to a blank page and conjured a pencil in his hand. There he hastily sketched out what he had seen in his vision. The time passed fast, and when he finished the spade he paused. "What does it mean? And why does it look so familiar?" He flipped back to the image of him and Draco. His eyes roamed the page, searching for something, anything, that might give him a clue as to what the spade meant.

"Hold on." His eyes caught on something. In the sketch, he and Draco were shaking hands. He squinted his eyes to look closer at the space between them. He gasped in shock as he saw that the space between them formed the outline of a spade. The notebook clattered to the floor.

"No way. That's gotta be a coincidence." He grabbed it with his magic and flipped it rapidly to the blur of colors. His eyes combed over the image, looking for the spade again. Seconds passed with no recognition. He rotated it in the air slowly, making sure to look at each and every spot for his quarry. He paused.

He turned it so that it was parallel to the ground, with the bottom left corner facing him. He peered down the length of the paper and froze when he saw that the blur of the image forms a perfect spade from that angle. How he didn't notice its odd shape when he first drew it escaped him.

"There's only one way." He moved the pages numbly, passing through all the memories without sensation. He stopped at the picture of the building and looked at the only spot he knew would house the blasted spade. His eyes moved up the page and stopped when he reached the cloud of smoke that came from the open windows. It was in the shape of an upside-down heart, and the image was completed by the odd triangular chimney that the building used to hold up.

He turned to the final page that he marked on and took a good long look at the picture he had drawn. "Whatever this means, it has influenced me or watched me in the past. The only reason I'm realizing it now is because it decided it wants to rear its ugly head. The owner of this mark is going to appear soon, I'm sure of it. I don't know what he/she/it wants with me, but I know that it won't be good."

He closed the notebook and went to put it back into his backpack. After he set it down somewhere in that void his hand brushed against something cold and metallic. "Hmm? I didn't put anything like that in here . . ." His hand crinkled a piece of paper when he grabbed it and pulled it out. "No way . . ."

He gasped when he saw what he had in his hand. It was the metal that he saw in his vision. It was the color of rust, and he could sense that something about it was . . . off, for lack of a better word. He stood in shock for a few moments. His past visions had never come to pass this soon after he had them, so he wondered this was all happening so quickly.

He ripped off the rubber band and unfolded the note.

From one badass in Equestria to another. Some indestructible metal for you.

Sincerely: Seth the Chaos Mage

P.S. Don't tell the ponies!

Wat.

Wat.

Mind=BERKOW!. Full system reboot necessary.

. . .

Reboot complete.

"Holy shit. I was right, that note was on paper that didn't exist in Equestria, and that's a real rubber band! But what the hell does that even mean? 'Seth the Chaos Mage'? Seth isn't a pony name. There's another human here?

"Wat.

"Okay, focus on the facts. This 'Seth' probably isn't here anymore, or else he would have made some kind of contact with me other than this note. And he's a Chaos mage? What the hell! That's so cool! I wanna learn how to manipulate chaos! Focus, again. What's with the metal?"

He picked it up and examined it. He flicked it once or twice, then rapped it against his bedpost. It made that one noise that metal makes when you hit it on wood. Not a clang, but more of a hollow thunking noise. Satisfied with the results, he raised it up to his face once again.

"A solid bar of Adamantium. That apparently got a recolor. Well, the first problem I see here is that Adamantium doesn't really . . . hmm . . . I don't know . . . exist! Second problem is that its tinged with Chaos magic. Actually, that isn't a problem. I can probably use it to my advantage. Third problem; what the hell happened to the guy that left it here in the first place? The note said he's in Equestria, so that only leaves one possible explanation: alternate reality." He took a few breaths to calm down. "Whatever. Not my problem by this point. He's obviously returned to whatever freaked-out dimension in which Adamantium (and probably Wolverine) do exist. Like I said, not my problem."

Lucien set the metal ingot and the note back down in his backpack gingerly, as if they might spontaneously combust, which, for all he knew, they might. He zipped the bag back up and put in in the corner of his room. He needed to go visit Twilight, and he was already late.

Bronze Gear was working hard at her trade. Several sleepless nights had passed in her inflamed passion. She could stop, hell, she should stop; but she refused. The project she had been working on for the past three years was nearing completion. All the heartache, the blood, the sweat, the tears, and the overall pain, had brought her this close to finishing.

"We'll see how Princess Celestia likes this, now won't we?" She snorted once in anger, the steam from her nostrils lost in the fires of the forge. "The way you carelessly replaced me like a machine with a voided warranty. You'll see your mistake soon enough." The next few blows she struck on the plate metal rang louder, imbued with the force of her rage.

She stopped to look at a clock on the wall, illuminated by the glow of the embers in the forge. It read 2:44 in the morning. Well, at least she thought it was morning. Her perception of time had gotten really messed up since she went down to work in her windowless basement.

"Maybe I should get some sleep. Can't work like a genius when you're this tired." She took a bucket of water sitting nearby and doused the open flames. She left her work where it lay, scattered in various places throughout the room. She turned to exit and go back upstairs. A worn hoof pushed open the heavy metal door, but then paused.

She turned to look at the forge behind her. It was shrouded mostly in darkness, but she could make out her saddlebags in the corner and the glint of steel plating set up against a wall. She gave a hum of satisfaction and then walked upstairs to get some sleep.

Lucien talked things out with the girls and Spike. No harm had been done, after all, besides a bit of worry on all their accounts. Twilight was accused of being the most worried of them all, but Lucien just chalked it up to Twilight being Twilight. He had other things to worry about, anyway.

He headed home, head banging around thoughts of what he needed to get done. "First thing will be to get all the potions brewed and ready. My clients will probably be wondering what the hell happened to me." His mind went to Roseluck, and he didn't want to see his first customer disappointed.

Then his mind went to the note left for him by 'Seth.' "I still don't know what to make of it, but I'm sure something will come up where that metal will become useful. Hell, maybe I'll meet him someday." ([?])

As he opened the door to his house, his mind settled on the vision he received, and, more specifically, the weapons. "I may be spending some time in the forge today after all . . ." He trailed as he looked at the inviting-looking door that lead downstairs to the basement. "Besides, the orders for those potions won't fill themselves."

Lucien walked over to the door and went inside. He descended swiftly, taking two steps at a time. It was this part that he always loved. That anxious, happy feeling he would always get when he approached his equipment. He would experience it when he thought about the endless possibilities, the different experiments, and the fact that just about anything was within his reach. That was the thrill that had kept him going in his "profession."

He jumped the final few stairs and landed on the stone floors with the echoing slap of his shoes. The room was dark, but that was fixed when he channeled out a bit of magic to power up the light crystals he had placed on the walls throughout the place. It was just his version of electric lighting.

The forge was unlit, and just viewing it made him shiver with the cold it was giving off. The potion brewing stands along the walls had their outlets filled with empty bottles. They wouldn't stay that way for long.

He ascended two floors quickly, and grabbed his backpack and, after a moment's hesitation, the Adamantium sitting on his bed. He sprinted back down the stairs, skipping over most of them in his haste. The fires of passion were burning bright within him, and he couldn't wait to get started.

"Wait a sec, why does this look so familiar?" He was standing at the entrance to his basement, looking at the glowing forge in front of him. He looked down and saw the shadow that the light crystals were casting. It was (obviously) his silhouette.

Lucien had his backpack off and notebook in hand before you could say "Mississippi." He turned the pages hastily, while still taking care not to rip any of them. He stopped when he hit the page with a sketch of him facing his forge. He lifted it up to eye-level and took a good long look. "Yep . . . identical." He really wasn't surprised.

He looked a clock on the wall to catch the time. It read 2:44.

He looked back at the notebook he held, then peeled back the page carefully. It was the drawings of the weapons. He smiled deviously, and rubbed two mental hands together in a menacing fashion. "So these shall be mine, and I know just how to make them."

He walked over to the lit forge, baking in the heat for a moment before setting down his notebook on an anvil next to him. Then, he laid out everything he would need to craft these wonderful, destructive, items. His dagger was first, that would supply the base metal for the sword. It would give shape, and, more importantly, magic. He knew that it wouldn't be enough metal to adequately make the whole blade, so he poked through his backpack and found another chunk that Draco left him.

The runes on it would cover for the shape-shifting, and the ability for it to balance the two other weapons. Next item on the list was the strange blue metal he picked up from the dragon's cave. His hands seemed to stick to it while he pulled it out. And, the strange part was that he almost didn't want to let it go. The metal gave off such a comforting vibe of harmony that soothed him. So, naturally, he dropped it like it was on fire. He had experience with things like that, and he knew that things that promised happiness or well-being weren't always as innocent as they seemed.

The next thing he laid down was the bar of Adamantium. He decided then and there that he could call it Chaos Adamantium because of its alignment to the chaotic side of things. He could feel that the need to break free and wreak havoc was barely being contained by the ingot. It agitated him, and put some crazy images in his mind. Most of them involving himself breaking something. It would be an understatement to say that he backed away from that thing as fast as possible.

The last metal he took out was the Arcadium. It would allow the two opposing forces to be bonded together successfully, for he knew that the reaction would take a lot of energy, more than he had in his tank at any given time. If anything, this held the greatest importance. Without the hard mana stored inside of it, the binding wouldn't be possible.

Lucien stood back and looked over his ingredients. "This will take a lot of time, and a lot of effort. And of course the small side effect of it being soul-bound. So, while I'll never lose it, I'll never be able to really get rid of it without, lets say, pitching it off a cliff into Mount Doom . . . Meh, I can deal with it."

He gathered his stuff together and went to work.

Bronze Gear awoke from her rest with a start. She wasn't able to truly fall asleep, as her mind was never able to stop thinking about her invention. Any short dreams she had were always interrupted by thoughts concerning what she was doing while awake, and they would always end with an image of a paint-splattered spade. She hadn't the slightest clue as to what it meant, but, hey, since when anyone able to make absolute sense of a dream.

She swung her body out of her bed and stomped back down to the basement. She fired up her forge once again and got to work putting on the final touches. The old, worn, and stained workbench to her side was covered in blueprints for what she was making. She would lean over every once in a while to check the guidelines for the chunk of metal she was using the soldering iron on.

She pulled out a tool used specifically for etching patterns into metal, and she started marking runes across the plate she was working on. Their function was only to hold power for greater enchantments to be put on the completed device. She was confident that it would be the greatest mechanical invention since the wheel. But, this was only going to be used by her, for very specific purposes.

Her mind darkened as she wondered how it would happen. "Do I want a grand entrance, or a smaller, more covert one? Will the guards announce my presence? Surely. What's everypony going to think of my wonderful device?" Her eyes wandered for a moment, then froze on the framed picture of her and Celestia she had on her workbench. The two of them were posing in front of a statue of a stallion wearing mechanical armor that Bronze herself had designed. It was her greatest accomplishment under Celestia.

Her eyes started to water. They weren't focused on the mechanized pony in the back, but right on her former teacher's eyes. She paused in her work, unable to tear her gaze away.

The plate metal clanged to the floor, followed soon after by the metal etcher. She stood up on shaky hooves and clopped softly over to the workbench. She looked directly at the picture-Celestia. There was a moment where only the crackle of embers in the forge could be heard.

Then the room echoed with sound of Bronze's voice. "Stop staring at me! You're the one who cast me off! You're the one to blame! Not me!"

Her hoof smashed into the frame, breaking the glass and sending it skidding across the floor. The paper fluttered out of the frame and turned over mid-air before falling into the flames of the forge. Even as the fire burned holes in it, words were still visible on the back. Bronze knew them by heart now.

Bronze,

I know that your time under me had come to an end, and I know that you're scared for what comes next. But, if it isn't too much trouble, I have one final request to ask of you.

I want you to continue your research on improving Equestria's military use of mechanical armor and weaponry. It has been your passion, that much is clear; and it is obvious that your thirst for knowledge in that subject will never be satiated. So please, do not stop your work just because it was time to go.

Finish your work. Make me proud.

The sounds of sobbing could be heard, followed by the sound of fast hoofsteps. The last sound to echo through the empty room was the sound of a door slamming shut.

Author's Notes:

Is this what Bronze Gear has been planning all along? Did the author finally reveal what had been the greatest mystery since she was introduced? What exactly is Bronze Gear making?

What is Lucien's involvement here? How does the hero of this story tie in to Bronze's nefarious plans? What could this mean for the future of Ponyville? Of Canterlot? Of Equestria?!

And what does that spade have to do with anything? Where does it tie in? What does it mean? Who does it mean?

Will I ever stop asking rhetorical questions? Maybe? Maybe not? How close is this story to ending anyway?

Find out more in the next chapter of Ungrounded!

~Sandcroft

Chapter 11: Harmony, Chaos, and Balance

Lucien, of course, spent the whole entire day in the forge. As if he would do anything else when badass weapons were his to craft.

He toiled over the red glow of the embers. A single drop of sweat slid off his nose and fell into the flames with a hiss. He worked the bellows on the side to add air to the fire, thus extending its life. He continued his work on the items of destruction.

It was a painstaking, meticulous process. The way the metals needed to be combined was . . . complicated, to say the least. It required to have the base weapon crafted first, then the other two weapons needed to be about halfway done, each in the shaping phase. He then had to place the runes on the sword quickly, before the other two cooled. Then, a short binding ritual needed to be performed, that would bind the essences of the metals together. That way, he could finish shaping and detailing the weapons when they were already bound to the sword.

Follow that?

Lucien was just adding the final touches on the gray sword. The runes he put on swirled around the blade, and down to the base of the hilt. The handguard was undeniably the hardest part for him to accomplish. It was basically an incredibly detailed wing-type-thing that curved up on the left side attached to fangs/spikes that jutted down on the left. Really just hard to describe.

He finished the sword and moved on to the harmonic weapons, the chakrams. The best way to get an idea for what these look like is to just imagine a bladed frisbee with most of the center cut out. There were three blades jutting out the sides, each one shaped like a wave. Albeit a very dangerous wave. Unlike the sword, these weapons were tinged a light blue, and Lucien could sense that there was more to them than met the eye.

Those were finished relatively fast, considering the simplistic shape he took into account. The hammer was next. While Lucien wasn't a fan of heavy weaponry, he knew that everyone always will eventually have a use for a giant-ass hammer. He modeled it after the Gravity Hammer in Halo, and having that familiarity gave him a speed boost in detailing it. He was done with this one very quickly.

He finished the hammer just as the chakrams were cooling down. He looked over the three weapons, then the Arcadium crystal. He knew what had to be done.

When he began on this task, he knew that there would be some kind of catch. One does not simply forge badass weaponry with fantastic abilities without paying some sort of price. He examined the collection before him, then looked through his notebook for a ritual that he could tweak to his advantage.

He flipped through the pages in silence, waiting in silence for the inevitable bad news to come on one of the papers. One such paper caught his eye. It depicted a ritual for binding, just what he needed.

The instructions for it warned that the spell should only be used to bind objects to other objects, or objects to people's souls. Lucien, however, knew that he could make it work for him. That was his special talent in magic, after all.

He traced the lines on the ground with a piece of chalk he grabbed out of his bag rapidly. The runes were traced in right after. This ritual required candles to be lit and then placed in the cardinal directions. He pulled out a bag of tea-lights that he always had in his bag, specifically for these occasions, and a compass. He practically threw them down on the ground in his hurry.

Finally, all was prepared. He grabbed the three weapons, and the Arcadium, and put them in the center of the runed circle he had drawn on the ground. Then he used a bit of fire magic to light all the candles quickly. Instantly, the light from the forge dimmed, as if the ritual had sucked the energy right out of it.

He got down on his knees with the chalk again, and wrote out specific instructions on the ground for the spell to follow. They, of course, were not written in English, but the language of the Elders; magic users that had came before mankind inhabited the Earth. Now, everyone held a piece of the Elders within them. The only way they could learn how to utilize it though was to go through a process called an "Awakening," where another learned mage "awoke" the powers within that person. He had been Awakened by Draco when he was just a boy.

"Focus."

The chalk instructions were completed, and they began to glow a distinct purple color. The purple representing the alignment of the spell; the School of Conjuration. It also happened to be the school that Lucien was most proficient with.

There was a great flash, and Lucien was blinded (obviously). The light held for a few moments, then died out abruptly, signaling the end of the spell. He waited for a moment for his eyes to readjust to the level of brightness within the dark room.

When his vision returned, the candles were out, and the lines of chalk were smudged by a force that originated from the center of the circle. His eyes looked toward the center, and beheld a single, gleaming weapon sitting in the center of a scorch mark on the ground.

He stepped forward and picked it up. He fixed his hand firmly on the grip; it was exactly the same as his sacrificed athame. Then he ran his hand up and down the blade, inspecting it for any damages or mistakes on the runes etched into its surface. Finding none, he flipped it over, then gave it a few practice swings. It felt good. Balanced was the word that came into his mind as it sang through the air. He had a sense of familiarity with it that was no doubt given by the heart of his dagger that resided within it.

But there was something else behind this beautiful blade. A sort of otherworldly balance that went beyond the physical world. He dipped his consciousness down into the swirling mana that existed on another plane. He gasped at what he saw.

The blade was only gray in the dead center. The left side was tinged a bright cyan color, while the right was a deep crimson. The two were base opposites, clearly, but Lucien could sense that both conceded to each other to form the middle sword. It was what held them together and created a sense of balance. For without one, the other would cease to exist.

Balance. That's what he would call the sword. It fearlessly stood as the mediator between the two other forces, keeping them both intact.

The left side, the blue, however, was different. It gave off a cool feeling, and when he felt the side with his hand, it chilled him to the bone. It was harmonious, that much was clear, but this took it to a whole new level. It was harmony without bounds, or morals, or individuality. It wanted to destroy everything only so that nothing would be at war with itself. The thought of conformity that overrode all other needs swept through Lucien's mind.

Harmony is what he would call this weapon. He named it for what it stood for, despite that fact that it wouldn't be a very harmonious harmony at all. And, to his surprise, the sword disappeared, and in its place were the two chakrams that he had crafted. One had appeared in each hand, and he held them with authority. He knew how to use these weapons, and he knew that he would eventually have to.

He turned his attention away from Harmony and back towards Balance. The chakrams instantly disappeared from his hands and the sword materialized in them in its place. He looked to the right, the crimson side of the weapon, and his mind was flooded with a thousand images of destruction and confusion. It was a war just for the sake of a war. He imagined himself laying waste to towns, walking away from the conflagration that consumed each of them. Families broken, trusts and alliances turned against one another. The only way he could describe it was pure chaos.

And Chaos it shall be. Balance vanished from his grip, and the hammer appeared. It felt heavy in his hands, causing him to tilt forward just a bit. It almost seemed like it wanted to be released. It craved for movement, for swift and decisive action. It wanted to cause trouble and then to sit back and watch the consequences. It certainly was no benevolent spirit at all. Lucien knew that he would someday face an enemy that would give him no other choice but to turn to his chaotic side and use it with resolve. Something told him that day would be soon.

He allowed Chaos to disappear and transform back into Balance. The blade hung low in his grip, perpendicular to the floor beneath him. At the expense of a bit of mana, Lucien threw on an enchantment that allowed him to fix the blade on his person anywhere, without the need of a holster. He just did this because he was too lazy to make a scabbard. He rose his consciousness back out of the swirling world of arcane energies.

With a new sense of purpose, he swung the blade over his shoulder and attached it to his back. There, it was ready to go at a moments notice, and he would always be ready to use it when necessary.

There was still many things about them he had yet to learn. The metals were blessed with many gifts, and he had probably multiplied the possibilities when he created weapons out of them. Combine that with his natural creativity and there was hardly any limit to the amount of things he could do with them.

But for now, he had all the time in the world. He used a bit of mana to kill the flames in the forge, then it was all replenished when he took the energy out of the light crystals adorning the walls. He quitted the room and trudged back upstairs.

Only to be stopped short in his entryroom when a letter materialized in front of him from a gout of flame. It hung there, suspended, for a moment until Lucien reached out and grabbed it. He undid the wax seal and unrolled it. It was addressed to him, from who he supposed to be Twilight.

It called for his presence at the library, and to gather up the girls once again. It seemed that she wanted to take a trip to Canterlot to visit with the Princess, and they were all invited to go with. He exited his house with the letter in his grip, setting out for the Library.

Author's Notes:

So I've got a short one for you guys here. Short because this is going to be the penultimate chapter for Story Arc #1: Parallels. Here's a promo for the next chapter:

Tune in next time for the grand conclusion to the first volume of Lucien's adventures in Equestria! With new weapons in hand, Lucien and the Mane Six set out for Canterlot. But, is it really for the reason Twilight gave? Is something else going down in the big city?

Find out next time, in the Ungrounded Special Chapter: Showdown!

~Sandcroft

My rant.

P.S. I need a new description. The one I have currently isn't really cutting it. PM me if you have any ideas. I'm open to anything at this point.

Chapter 12: The Pony who Would Change the World

A special chapter like this should have a special introduction, but I can't think of one, so I'm just gonna let you dive in.

Bronze stormed out of her house after she sent that fake letter to Twilight. Just a forged signature, a stolen wax stamp to seal it, and the correct know-how. She was sure that it would send Miss "Most Faithful Student" scrambling to get here as fast as her hooves would take her. Bronze shook her head.

She set out on a course to get to the train station. It was dusk now, the sun having just set behind the picturesque mountains of Canterlot. There was, however, still just enough light to see. The lamps hadn't even been lit.

She trekked through the thinning crowds of ponies, each taking his or her way back to their house. She almost wished that she could be one of them; heading back home after a satisfying day of doing what she loves. She stumbled. "Don't think like that; those days are over now." Even if Celestia took her back, things wouldn't be the same.

After tommorrow, things would never be the same.

She reached her destination, the train depot. She entered and said a brief hello to the mare working the ticket booth, then headed straight for the time tables. She looked up at it and reviewed the times scheduled for the trains tomorrow. "8:30. She'll want to get here as early as possible, and spend some time showing her friends around Canterlot after meeting with Celestia." She made a strong mental note of it and walked back out the way she came in.

She looked around at the ponies passing by. Individual faces, she couldn't make out, but the colors blended into one crazy pastel nightmare that assaulted her eyes. She looked down at her darker coat in happiness. She always liked its shade better than what she saw on other ponies out there.

Bronze joined the crowd once again and just let go for a moment, letting herself get lost in the crowd. She would always do this after a tough day at work. She would always enjoy getting pushed and pulled through the city for half an hour or so to get back to her humble abode. She shut her eyes and allowed the bodies around her to be her guide.

She walked for a time. She wasn't quite sure how long, but eventually a gap in the throng was reached, and she stopped in her pilgrimage back home. Her eyes opened, then blinked once in shock. It wasn't her house that she was looking at.

She was in the marketplace. In front of Sandcroft's stall.

A horrible feeling overcame her senses, and she began to shiver. "Why am I here? And why am I walking in?"

She stepped to the entrance and watched as one of the flaps parted to reveal a familiar blue, top-hat-wearing unicorn. He looked directly into Bronze's eyes and a smile split his otherwise neutral features.

"Bronze!" he called out. "How delightful it is to see you! And what a coincidence it is that you're here, you're just the pony I've been wishing to talk to." He stepped to the side and parted one of the tent flaps. He held out an inviting hoof and said, "Won't you come in?" But it wasn't a question.

She found herself nodding and walking in of her own accord. She wasn't surprised, however, to see that the out-of-place room had once again taken over the features of the tent's interior. She sat down at the end of the table, and Sandcroft took the other end.

He put his hooves on the table and spoke. "It has come to my attention recently that you have just made a very great decision. Would you like to tell me a bit about it?" He asked innocently.

"Well," she spoke through gritted teeth, "I have just sent for my old . . . acquaintance, Twilight Sparkle to join Princess Celestia and I for a little get-together. For . . . old times' sake." She found it easy, yet hard to get the words out. She didn't want to tell him, but the words kept springing from her mouth.

He clopped his hooves together. "How splendid! I'm sure you three will have the best time in each others' company." He leaned forward. "I also know that you have a very . . ." He trailed off for a moment, looking for the right word. His face lit up when he thought of it. "A very peculiar reason for sending this invitation. Care to share?"

She resisted for a moment, but she knew that there was no fooling him; besides, he probably knew already. "You want to know why?" her features darkened as she reached the next part, a rolling rage poked its head above the surface of her mind. "I wish to destroy Twilight Sparkle. Celestia needs to see her mistake. My work is the future and she dismissed it and had it eradicated like it was inconsequential! It never should have happened! And now I want to show them how I've bettered, how I've seen the future. How machine will triumph over magic. From the first moment Celestia took me in, my destiny was set. Even if I didn't see it then, I know that my time under her would lead me towards the knowledge that machines will someday overrun the magic that we so treasure these days. I know, because I saw it happen! I saw myself rising above those of Canterlot as the catalyst of a new age! The Age of The Machine!"

She was breathing hard from shouting so much, but she felt lighter for the first time in the past few years. Once the words had begun to flow, she couldn't stop herself. She panted and her heart rate returned to normal. She glared at Sandcroft. He, in turn sat back in the chair and closed his eyes.

Her head filled with memories of the past. She shuddered to remember the bipedal monsters that seemed to bleed ink instead of blood. It was that terrifying dream she had so long ago. She hoped to never go through that again, but the single experience was worth it in her eyes, because it presented to her a vision of the future; a vision that was she was about to view once again.

The first picture was her, obviously, standing at the head of her class receiving a standing ovation for her work on her team's science fair project. It was her first success, and it awoke in her a need to learn more about the mechanical world. It was the first day she counted in which she actually began to dream about the future.

The second picture was the conference in which Princess Celestia took Bronze under her tutelage. It was the happiest day of her life, and the actual moment itself held a special place in her thoughts still. But now, it was hollow; just a bittersweet reminder of what she had, and what she would never get back. But she still made sure to never forget about it.

The third and final picture depicted the invention she had toiled over for so long. It was a beast of mechanics. A power-driven creature that had oil for blood, and gears for organs. Magic graced it with enhanced movement, through the shard of Arcadium given to her by the unicorn sitting opposite her. The Equinis Suit, as she liked to call it, was the first of its kind. A pioneer to pave the road for the industrialists that will come after her. As she said before, it gave her no sadness that she wouldn't be around to see that glorious revolution in which mechanical products became the standard in the lives of all. It was a part to be played, and she filled it perfectly.

Wait, that last thought wasn't hers. "A part to be played? This is no play!" She opened her eyes and looked forward, to meet eyes with the pony that she had been conversing with.

But he wasn't there. Nor was the room that they had been sitting in. Or the whole tent, for that matter. She was sitting, alone, in the dark, in the field of grass that hosted the Farmers' Market each day. She stood up with a start and looked around agitatedly. There was no sign of the mysterious pony.

Bronze gave up looking immediately and decided to just go home. Not trusting the streets, or the dark for that matter, she teleported to her doorstep. She looked up to her door and gasped at what she saw.

A note was stuck to the wood. She pulled it off with her magic and examined it.

Bronze,

You have a big day tommorow. It's best that you get some rest.

And don't worry, I'll be watching.

Below the writing, in place of a signature, was a simple drawn spade.

Lucien entered the Library without knocking. He had his equipment with him; Balance and his backpack. The blade felt warm against his back, almost as if in anticipation of what would happen next. He walked in to see Twilight pacing frantically around the room and Spike trying desperately to calm her down. It wasn't working.

"Why would Princess Celestia call me to Canterlot all of a sudden? Did I do something wrong? Why didn't she invite my friends too? Maybe it's like what happened with the Gala, and I just need to remind her that my friends would like to come too?" She sat down on her haunches hard. "What do I do?!"

Lucien chose this brief moment of silence to intervene. "Twilight, Twilight, what are you going on about?"

She fixed her violet eyes on Lucien. "You got the letter I sent to you, I see. So you should know why I'm so . . . overworked like this." She calmed down a bit at this statement.

He played it up a bit more. "There's no need to overwork yourself," he started, avoiding the word 'overreact' as best as he could. "I'm sure that whatever reason the Princess has for calling you in, it's nothing bad. Now what you need to do now is sit down on the couch, take a few deep breaths, and help me explain the situation to the rest of your friends when they show up, got that?"

She nodded, and got up to go sit down again. Lucien turned his attention to Spike. "Is she always like this?" He asked the purple drake. He just nodded and gave a half-shrug in response.

The door opened, and in walked Rainbow Dash and Rarity. "Hey, Twilight, so I heard we're going on a little roadtrip. Need any help packing?" Rainbow called out, looking for the mare in question.

"Yes, and where might we be staying? I don't believe I can make any hotel reservations on such short notice. Or will the Princess be providing rooms again?" Rarity asked, her eyes searching the room for the lavender unicorn.

Both of their eyes settled on Lucien, his back half-turned to them. Both pairs then widened a bit, one in surprise, and one in wonder.

"Lucien, whatever would you need such a . . . large weapon for? Surely Ponyville can't be that dangerous of a place." Rarity asked him.

Rainbow had zoomed up to him while she was talking, and interrupted excitedly. "Whoa! That thing is so cool! When'd you get it, and where can I get one?" She pelted him with questions while fluttering around, trying to get a better look at Balance.

Lucien chuckled and slid the weapon out of its non-existent scabbard on his back. "Well, to answer Rarity's question, no, Ponyville is not that dangerous of a place, but Equestria can be, so I needed a bit of an upgrade. And, Rainbow Dash..."

She flew up right in his face, wearing a huge, innocent smile. "I forged this sword myself, and it's got a few magical properties that I wouldn't be able to explain to you myself. It's one of a kind, and before you ask, no, I'm not making you one." She tried to interject again, but he held up a hand, silencing her. "As I said, Ponyville isn't that dangerous of a place, so you wouldn't have any need for such a weapon."

She pouted, then flew back to stand next to Rarity. "So now what?" She voiced her next question with a bit more attitude than before.

Lucien gestured to where Twilight sat on the other side of the library. "Well, Twilight over there is doing some breathing exercises, and we're waiting for everyone else to show up."

Rainbow backed off a little, but she was forced forward again when the door opened to reveal a bouncing Pinkie Pie, trotting Applejack, and nervously-flapping Fluttershy. Their faces lit up when they saw Lucien, but then changed when they noticed what he was holding.

Pinkie Pie just was Pinkie Pie, and she materialized in front of Lucien, looking at Balance in curiosity. "Oooh, what's that? Did you make it? Why is it done in two colors? Are those runes drawn on it? Does it have some super-duper awesome magic stuff that you haven't discovered yet? When did you make it? How long 'til you think you can make it work? Can you get me one? Why's Twilight in the corner over there?" She got it all out in one breath somehow.

Lucien held up a finger and took a breath. "It's a sword. Yes. Because I used a few different metals. Yes. Probably. It took the whole day to make it. I have no idea. No way, and she's trying to calm down." Lucien replied without taking a breath either.

Pinkie nodded in understanding, then sped off to go console Twilight. Applejack took her place in front of Lucien. "Ah hope you're right careful with that there weapon, Lucien. Ya could seriously hurt somepony if ya got careless with it." She warned him, then moved on to join her pink, hyperactive friend.

Fluttershy said nothing and simply cast a nervous, distrusting glance at the blade Lucien gripped. He caught on to the look and sheathed the weapon. She relaxed a bit and moved on to talk with Twilight. "Out of sight, out of mind, I guess."

He turned around to face the group of mares. They were each taking turns trying to relax Twilight, with Spike hanging back and packing some bags. "Looks like she's reading pretty far into this invitation. There's gotta be something I can do."

He walked over, and the group hushed as he approached. "Twilight, what's wrong?" He held out his arms.

She glanced up at him. "What's wrong is that the Princess doesn't just do this! She never just invites us to Canterlot with a few hours notice!" She looked around frantically, then her eyes set on one spot and widened. "Here!" Her horn lit up and the letter she received floated into Lucien's face. "Read it."

Dear Twilight,

I will be meeting with an old friend of mine from outside of the province of Equestria tomorrow, and I wish to extend an invitation to you and the girls. The attire for the meeting is casual, and it is expected to take most of the day. I can provide some rooms in the castle if you wish to stay the night.

Your Mentor, Princess Celestia

It dropped to the floor as he finished with it. "Twilight," he started, and she looked up at him, "you can't read into these things so much. It's unhealthy."

Her eyes grew a bit wider. "But . . ."

"All this worrying has to be causing a lot of stress for you, and I'll tell you what we're going to do. Are you listening?"

She nodded.

"Good. What we're going to do is get your bags packed for an overnight trip, get you some sleep, and get us all on a train to Canterlot tomorrow morning. I know that I wasn't really invited, but, honestly, I think you need the support of the seven of us if you're going to make it there without a complete breakdown. Understand?"

She nodded once again.

"Alright. I see that Spike over there has somehow already finished packing your bags," Spike nodded emphatically, "and I'm sure that the rest of the girls, besides Pinkie, need to pack their own bags, am I right?" He looked at the other mares assembled in the room. They all nodded. Even Pinkie.

He returned his attention to Twilight. "So go upstairs, climb into bed, and get a good night's sleep. You'll need it for tomorrow. It sounds like this will be a very nice, relaxing meeting to attend."

He was just saying anything to calm her down at that point. She probably could go on four hours' sleep tomorrow and be fine.

Twilight got up to her hooves unsteadily, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack leaned up on either side of her for support. Once she was up, her eyes swept across the room. They fixed upon the smiling faces of each of her friends, and her eyes began to water.

"I love you guys." She pulled the mares and dragon around her into a hug. Lucien stood on the outside, arms crossed and smiling at the display of affection before him. Then, Applejack looked over and noticed him standing. Before he could react, her orange hoof snagged him and pulled him into the hug.

They broke up after a few moments.

Lucien looked stunned. "I-" he broke off.

"What?" Rainbow asked, smiling. "Never been in a group hug before?"

Lucien's eyes fixed upon the ground. "No," he said finally.

He heard a few gasps silence the room. All was still for a few moments. Then, the clops of soft hooves were heard echoing across the wood floor. They paused before him, then the front hooves raised into the air, and stayed there.

"Well, now you have."

He looked up and saw the face of Twilight looking slightly up at him. She wrapped her forehooves around his body, then turned and motioned for the rest of the girls to join in. They did after a second's hesitation.

"This feels . . . nice. Maybe I could stay here for a while. At least longer than I had planned."

Lucien left after the heartwarming moment they had shared. His night was spent tossing and turning in his sleep. It was almost restless. He was sure that he had woken up a few times during it too. But, nonetheless, he woke up early the morning after feeling somewhat rested.

He got up and stretched, then unzipped his backpack that was sitting at the foot of his bed. He dug for a moment, then pulled out a small wind-up alarm clock. "Don't know why I didn't put this out before."

He used a bit of mana to raise a two-foot high marble nightstand next to his bed. He wound up the clock and placed it there. One quick spell to sense the time of day later and the hand were aligned with the small hand on the seven and the big hand between the four and the five. "I should probably get going."

Lucien walked to the bathroom and magicked some water into the basin. He had taken it from a stream not too far a way in the Everfree. He assumed it was clean and splashed it onto his face.

Now fully awake, he walked back into his room. His sword was mounted on the wall his bed was facing. He grabbed that and his backpack, then walked downstairs to go out the door.

Lucien made it to the train station by what he assumed was seven thirty-five. Ponies were departing for their jobs in different parts of Equestria, and a locomotive was leaving just as Lucien walked up. His eyes swept the depot for a few seconds, then they caught on five familiar mares and a dragon.

He walked up, raising a hand in greeting. "Hey, girls, what's up?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, "Waiting for Rarity."

The statement was reason enough for Lucien, and he sat down on a bench next to the six. After a few awkward moments, he asked, "What's taking her so long?"

Dash looked at him, then said, "She's Rarity. No trip isn't worth packing everything she owns into at least two dozen suitcases. She doesn't travel light like the rest of us." She swept a hoof around and Lucien took into account the few items of luggage that sat near them.

"Speaking of stuff to bring on a trip, where's all yours? And where'd your sword go?" Rainbow asked.

Lucien patted his backpack. "All that I'll ever need is in this pack here, and I gave my sword a shoddy Passive Cloaking Spell." At the mention of "spell," Twilight's ears perked up. Lucien continued. "It'll only appear now when I need it."

"Ah, cool."

"Yeah."

Time passed.

A clock in the back of the station ticked.

Somepony coughed.

Fluttershy ruffled a feather.

Lucien couldn't take much more of this without going batshit crazy on everyone there for being so awkward.

It was a good thing, then, that Rarity appeared, pulling a wagon laden with velvet-covered suitcases behind her. The handle was enveloped in magic, and it made Lucien wonder why a card with a handle was even present in Equestria at all, much less Ponyville. "Best not to think about things like that."

"Good morning everyone. I do hope that you all got sufficient amounts of sleep last night and are ready to go see the sights?" Rarity greeted them in her typical fashion.

Twilight glanced up at her from the book she was engrossed in. "Sure Rarity." Her eyes drifted to the suitcase-covered cart behind her and she scowled. "Really? All that for one night in Canterlot?"

Rarity flipped her mane extravagantly and said, "Perfection comes at a price, you know."

Lucien was just about ready to bite the bullet when the train came rolling in. He turned around to glance at the clock in the back. It read seven forty-five. By his calculations, that would mean that they would arrive in Canterlot by about eight-thirty.

They piled onto the train and took their seats.

When they were all settled, Lucien leaned over the aisle a bit and spoke to Twilight, who was still reading her book. "What time are you all supposed to be meeting the Princess?"

The unicorn jerked up a bit, startled from the intrusion. "Most of the Princess' meetings take place at high noon. I expect that lunch will be served there also."

"Cool."

And with that, Lucien leaned back into his booth and promptly shut his eyes. They didn't re-open until the train pulled into the Canterlot station.

They disembarked, making headway for the castle. Strangely enough, there was no escort sent by Princess Celestia to help with their luggage. Lucien simply dismissed it on account of a pony slacking off, but Twilight seemed to be a bit worried about it.

They walked the same path Lucien and Twilight did when they visited Canterlot the first time. They took a winding path up roads and through squares, taking in all the high-reaching towers on the way up. After a few minutes, all pretenses of worry had vanished from any of their minds.

As the group progressed further up the mountain, they laughed more; jokes were told and stories were related to one another. To anypony passing by, it seemed like they had known each other for years.

They were passing into the Farmers' Market just as Lucien was beginning his next tale. "So this one time, me and my buddy Keith-"

"Hey, what's up with this place?" Rainbow Dash interrupted him.

They all looked around. The tents were all set up, but there wasn't a soul in sight. "Hmm. Maybe there was a sale going on in the Garment District?" Applejack suggested.

Lucien's eyes swept over the tented landscape. "Guys, I think something's up." Balance appeared on his back, and he slowly reached up a hand to grab it.

"What makes you think that?" Rainbow Dash asked in a brash tone.

Lucien turned around and gave the pegasus a remarkably blank stare. "My wizard senses were tingling." He turned back around and started moving forward.

Dash huffed and flipped her hair in annoyance.

"You girls wait here, I'm gonna go check through the tents to see if anyone is still there. I'll be right back." He ran forward and disappeared into the mass of canvas.

Everything was going fine on the trip, until they hit the Farmers' Market. But, Twilight did agree with Lucien, something was wrong.

Every time she had been there, even when she was a filly, the marketplace was always crowded with ponies going about their everyday shopping. The smell of freshly baked goods on display, fruits and vegetables up for sale, the occasional cotton candy vendor! It was all so much to see, to hear, to experience! But now, everything was quiet.

There were small bags of popcorn left laying around in various places; on stands and the ground, and kernels of the stuff were waiting to get stepped on. A few spilled drinks dotted the area, and some pink cotton candy could be seen. It looked like the area was abandoned with haste. "Where could all these ponies go so fast? And why?"

Twilight stepped around the debris while contemplating the mystery. "Something drove them out, obviously, but by what, or whom? And where's the guard?"

The others were kicking about, clearly thinking the same thing, when suddenly a loud noise heralded over their ears. It sounded like a loudspeaker crackling to life. They bent their heads down and covered their ears to protect from the head-splitting whine. It seemed to be coming from everywhere at once.

The PA turned on. "Twilight Sparkle."

The lavender mare in question raised her head up. "Here. Who are you, and what do you want? Did you clear out the marketplace?"

"Your questions will be answered when you answer mine." The speaker cut off with a click after the sentence was spoken.

Twilight turned to face her friends. "What's going on? Where did Lucien go?"

He jumped into the tent nearest him when the loudspeaker crackled to life. It was the first instinct he acted on. If there was an adversary that needed defeating, his best option would be to stay hidden as long as possible. It was a lesson that was branded into his mind after his first run through a dungeon. Not a video game dungeon, mind you, but a real one. The kind that has extremely dangerous traps and enemies prowling the corridors.

The loudspeaker spoke. "Twilight Sparkle."

It was a mare's voice, that much he could make out. But he couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. It was his assumption that the PA system was set up around the square, and the one speaking was miles away.

"Here. Who are you, and what do you want? Did you clear out the marketplace?" Lucien heard Twilight say from a bit of a distance. He had gotten himself pretty far into the tents, so nobody heard the slap of his hand against his forehead.

"Why can't you just follow basic animal instincts and hide when something calls you out like that?! It isn't that hard!" he thought angrily at the lavender mare.

"Your questions will be answered when you answer mine." The loudspeaker turned off with a clicking noise.

The Farmers' Market was silent for a few moment. It was tense as a drawn bowstring; nobody even dared to breathe.

"What's going on, and where's Lucien?" he barely heard Twilight say.

But then, his sensitive ears picked up on a noise. No doubt the others heard it too.

It was a whistling sound. The sound of something soaring through the air . . .

He was hit by a sickening moment of realization.

Lucien sent the tent flying through the air and immediately yelled to the ponies and dragon. "Everyone get down!"

He didn't have time to make sure they did what he ordered. He cast a mana shield around him just as the bomb hit the ground in the center of the grass area.

A small shockwave passed him and his shield, but it didn't shatter. Dust was kicked up by the first impact, but there was no explosion. He peered through the blue glass of the mana shield, but he could see nothing.

A tense minute passed, and Lucien was sure that the bomb was a dud. He dispelled the mana shield and began tracing his way to the impact site.

Tents had been blown over, and some stands were reduced to nothing more than little splinters of wood. A piece of cotton candy blew past him like a tumbleweed, bouncing softly over the folds of canvas. He drew closer to the origin of the blast.

After a few more steps, his foot connected with something solid. "OW! Shit, my toe!"

Lucien still couldn't see the bomb itself. The area was still too choked with dust particles. He decided to remedy that.

Mustering up a very small amount of mana, he created a large gust of wind that swirled around his position, dispelling the dust in the air. As it cleared, he got his first look at the weapon before him.

It was golden-bronze. Its shape was in that of a giant cylinder, with lines marking the length, probably pieces that would splinter off in the blast. It was clearly a bomb, but the shape wouldn't allow for a very damaging explosion. It confused him greatly, but that confusion only grew when the form began to move.

Several of the interlocking pieces shifted, and began to lift, revealing a mass of gears and clockwork on the inside. As the moments passed, he grew more worried, and began to form a sturdier mana shield around the bomb. He started to see a base form under all the gears.

Finally, all the pieces shifted down and gathered along the bottom of the cylinder. The gears fell off and clattered on the floor. He was joined by Twilight and her friends, thankfully unharmed by the shockwave of the device's landing. She approached him just as the the last gear fell off, revealing the bomb itself.

It had the appearance of a giant Tesla Coil, and was made out of tempered steel. The occasional spark was discharged at the top, giving Lucien the impression that it was a slightly malfunctioning prototype.

Then it went off.

A pulse of electricity launched outward from the thing, destroying Lucien's shield immediately. The group gathered before it was sent tumbling backward a few feet, mostly unharmed. He was up on his feet almost immediately, ready to drop the bomb underground in case it set off a second discharge.

He made the motion to sink it, his eyes never leaving the device.

But nothing happened.

He repeated the action. Same result.

His mind was instantly clouded with rage. "WHO THE HELL TURNED OFF MY MAGIC?"

Heads were going to roll, but first he had to make sure everyone else was okay. He looked around, seeing the ponies and dragon standing up slowly, each seemed alright, aside from a few bumps that were sure to bruise.

Twilight was the first up, and it seemed that she was trying to cast a spell. When it didn't work, she shook her head, thinking to clear her horn. When that didn't work, she sat on her haunches and flicked it with her hoof. She winced in a little pain, but it didn't help at all.

The rest of them were finding similar results. Rarity couldn't use magic either, Rainbow Dash couldn't get three feet off the ground, and the earth ponies seemed to be struggling a bit more to move. Their magics have been shut off.

Lucien unsheathed his sword, gripping it tightly. There was an unearthly fire glowing in his eyes, and his nostrils flared. He was pissed. He had no idea how to go about finding who did this, but he would, and when he did-

His thoughts were interrupted when his ears picked up a loud clank from across the area. Then another, and another, the time between them becoming shorter and shorter, until it was a constant din. Something, or someone, was approaching them.

Lucien strained his eyes to see through the bits of dust that were kicked up from the second, magic-numbing explosion. And when he saw what approached, his blood turned to ice-water in his veins.

There was a great mechanical mass walking briskly towards them, taking its time but still moving at a good pace. The walk itself spoke of intimidation. It was the walk of a pony.

It was colored bronze, just like the shell of the bomb that had landed, and gears whirred along the outside at specific joints. Steam blew out of pipes placed on the shoulders, and there was a pressure gauge on its chest. He could see that its steps were so forceful that the ground cracked when it placed a hoof down. Its face was just a blank, polished bronze, and it reflected the desolate scene around it.

Lucien, the mage who faced down adversity on a daily basis, who took on the royal pony sisters without so much as a second thought, was scared.

Without any magic, he was nothing; just another ordinary human being. And, worst of all, he was extremely mortal.

It paused it its hoofsteps, a good twenty feet away from them.

Lucien heard no battle-cry. Rainbow Dash and Applejack just sprinted straight for it, no doubts about whether the metal mass had launched the bomb at them. They reached it, and the machine just stretched a hoof to the side and swatted the two of them, sending them skidding across the grass to the right.

Fluttershy grabbed Spike, the dragon not protesting, and rushed to attend to Dash and AJ. It was just Lucien, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity left at the bomb.

The pink one and the white one shared a look, and stepped forward, teeth bared in fighting stances. The mech-pony lowered mechanically, freezing in position once it was reached.

Then, with a burst of steam from its rear, the metal mass rocketed forward, front hooves extended. It caught the two mares each in the chest, knocking the wind out of them and sending them bouncing backward. They flew by Lucien and Twilight.

The purple unicorn herself, with nothing to really defend herself with, assumed a battle stance anyway, determined not to go down without a fight. She was surprised when Lucien stepped in front of her, sword held out in front menacingly, a look of determination on his face.

The clockwork pony reached a hoof up to its neck and started to twist a gear. With a hiss and the sound of steam escaping, the mask covering its face lifted up to reveal a copper-coated mare. Twilight gasped.

It looked at the human quizzically, ignoring Twilight for the moment being. "And what the hell are you?"

Lucien smiled. "Is that bomb yours?"

Her eyes flickered to the device on the side. "Yeah . . .?"

"And it neutralizes magic?"

"Uh, yeah."

Lucien's eyes closed, and he brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "So," he started, slightly bouncing on his heels, "you just shot that thing over here and set it off?"

"That would be accurate."

"And I suppose that you're here for Twilight as well?"

"Also true."

"Well, my fine friend," he spoke that last word with vehemence, his face contorting into a scowl, "it seems that you have just pissed me off on a great level; actually, a level that has never been attained by anyone else, ever. That's quite an accomplishment, seeing how I've never even hated anybody before. Now, because you've neutralized my magic, and you want to do whatever to Twilight, I guess I'm gonna have to take action."

The pony's face hardened steadily while listening to Lucien's speech, and when he finished, her eyes narrowed. "Go ahead and try. Nopony, or whatever you are, can stop me now."

Lucien didn't even wait to respond. Balance flashed blue and transformed into his chakrams: Harmony. The one in his left hand was flying at the pony's face at a speed that was difficult for the eye to follow. She, he was guessing it was a she, snapped a metal-coated hoof up to block the attack.

Harmony shattered on impact, shocking those who were watching. Then, as another shocking moment, it appeared back in Lucien's hand like nothing had even happened. He stared down at it in wonder. "Damn. That's pretty cool."

He looked back up, and caught a metal hoof in the face. It clanged against his skull and sent him flying across the grass. He skidded to a stop about fifteen feet away. He sat up slowly, seeing spots behind his eyes. "OW."

Lucien rubbed his hand across his face. "That really hurt."

He didn't have much time to contemplate his next action as a small disc of copper embedded itself in the ground before his feet. He scrambled to his feet as another disc whistled by. Time was not being wasted by either party in this fight. He started moving forward slowly, analyzing his enemy as he did so. Twilight had, thankfully, made herself scarce.

"Alright boys, what do we have here?" His eyes swept over the suit, taking in every detail at a rapid pace. Although his magic had been depleted, his wit hadn't. "The armor is strong, probably reinforced multiple times. Weak attacks won't cut it, so Harmony will be ineffective." He swung Balance in a circle, deflecting a disc off to the side. "Chaos will be best to use, but its attacks are gonna take some time to prepare. Balance might be able to create an opportunity for attack, but I'm gonna have time it right."

Lucien nodded, locking in this plan of action. "Alright, what else do we have?" He examined the various gears that whirred and the steam that was being ejected from the pipes along its back. "Does this thing even have a weak point? It's so well made . . . Must have taken years of tempering and adjustments." Despite the fact that this was his enemy, he would regret dicing up such a masterpiece of mechanical engineering. "Wait. The joints." He looked closer at the connections interlocking each piece to allow movement. Small gears were exposed inset within spaces between the plates of metal. "If I can stop those from turning, then she won't have any movement at all." Another disc whizzed by.

He grimaced. Those gears were small. Really small. It would take expert marksmanship to hit them from a distance, and extreme fighting skill to slice at them during combat. "What do we have on weapons?" The discs were being dispensed from a small device that sat on the top of the bronze pony's foreleg. Naturally, it was raised and pointed at Lucien. "Whatever little tricks it has are still hidden up its sleeves. Nothing to report there except for that medieval disc shooter on its foreleg." He would call the pony's attempt at making a wrist-gun cute if he currently wasn't trying to dodge or block projectiles from said weapon.

He switched to Harmony, and flung each chakram at a angle, aiming right for the metal mass. As he predicted, the pony wasn't accommodated to wearing the armor and she tried to block the blades. Lucien watched her forelegs splay out to the sides in a poorly executed blocking motion, and he sprinted forward. With his weapon gone until Harmony hit its target, he could only hope that he timed it well.

Naturally, he was a little bit off. He took off running just a second too late, and Harmony shattered on the armor just as they had before. The pony stumbled, but looked up in time to see a hammer-bearing Lucien sprinting straight for her. She whipped around to try to buck him, but the gears wouldn't turn fast enough.

Lucien brought Chaos back and then swung with all his might. The blow landed solidly with a clang of metal and a red flash. The metal pony was sent skidding off to the right, barely managing to stay on its hooves.

He didn't want to wait for her to get her balance back. He reverted Chaos back to Balance and rushed for the off-balance pony.

She was fixing her weight slowly. Her hoof reached up to twist a knob on her shoulder and flick a pressure gauge lightly. She noticed Lucien blitzing her again, and she readied for impact.

Lucien saw her get ready, and immediately he knew that he blew his chances by not hitting downward with his hammer. In a slight anger, he threw his sword sideways, like a Frisbee, and sent it spiraling towards the metal clad pony. Instead of having it clatter to the ground or deflect sideways like he thought it would, it stuck in a chink in the armor.

He doubled his speed, not believing his luck. The pony, for whatever reason, didn't react like he thought she would. No screaming, no cries of wounded agony, just the ticking of clockwork machinery.

Lucien reached her, and jumped into the air. He pushed his foot right onto the base of the hilt, expecting the sword to go straight through the chink in the armor. Instead, what he got was the feel of kicking a wall. Not anticipating the sudden stop, he dropped to the ground in a heap.

He looked up at the pony, then at the supposed wound that he had left. He was a little surprised to find that there was no wound at all. Apparently, the sword had stuck directly into the metal pauldrons that made up the bulk of the armor. It had barely pierced it.

A metal-clad hoof reared its ugly face into his vision, and he, thinking fast, swept his hand across the grass. He caught something sharp and small, most likely a pebble, and slammed it directly between the gears that allowed foreleg movement on the armor. The hoof stopped in its tracks, and a shout of surprise came from behind the metal mask.

Lucien immediately kicked at the pony's face and grabbed wildly at the hilt of his sword. Instead of sending her flying backward, like he had hoped, he instead slid on his back rapidly away from her. "Right, right. Metal armor makes her a lot heavier than I am. Probably not gonna want to try picking her up."

He hopped back up, not wanting to spend anymore time on the ground. He raised his eyes just in time to see two metal-covered hind legs striking him in the chest. Something cracked, and he stumbled backward. As he tried to raise his sword, a hard hoof caught him in the jaw. He was stunned immediately, almost down for the count.

His vision blurred and doubled. It looked like he was on the ground. Some giant pony-thing was approaching him. He didn't like the giant pony-thing. Then, a purple bolt flew by, smacking the bad pony-thing in the head. It looked to the side for a moment, and another bolt whizzed by. It stomped off in anger, searching for the shooter of the purple bolts.

Lucien felt himself getting picked up. Several strong hooves were pushing at his back, helping him get steady on his feet. "C'mon, Lucien, you've gotta get up," he heard a southern accented voice say.

"Gotta get up."

The fog over his head cleared, and he scrambled to get to his sword that was lying on the ground to his left. His hand closed around the blade and his head shot up, looking for the metal pony and Twilight. The metal pony was easy to find. She was smashing through buildings at the edge of the marketplace, probably the spot where the purple bolts had originated from.

"Wait, purple bolts?" He suddenly realized that that meant.

Lucien looked down at his hand, and he channeled magic into it until it was glowing a violent green. "We're back in business, baby!"

Choosing to not waste any time running to the pony, he instead opted to try something new. He flipped the sword over in his hand, so he was holding it behind his back in a backhand stance.

He then channeled as much mana as possible into it. It wasn't very much, seeing as how his mana stores had just been depleted by the EMP mere minutes ago. His storage hadn't had adequate time to recover yet.

When all his magic energy had been focused in the blade, he yelled, "Hey!" at the metal pony, causing her to turn around. Then he sliced at the air three times, each swing releasing a fast-moving shockwave of energy in the same shape of his slice.

They rocketed through the distance between the adversaries, and struck the metal mass head-on.

The impact flipped her over, and sent her crashing into the building she was tearing apart. Beams crashed and splinters of wood flew through the air. A small cloud of dust billowed out of the hole in the wall that her entry had left.

Lucien walked over and peered inside. He waited patiently for the pony's inevitable return from her position in the building. He wasn't prepared for what happened instead.

The whole front wall he was standing in front of suddenly exploded outward in a massive ball of flame. The force of the explosion sent him flying backwards, ears ringing. Bricks and ash rained down on his position prone on the ground. The last few chunks were striking the earth as he got up again.

"The ground is not soft! God!"

He looked back at the building with bleary eyes that refocused immediately when he spotted the one responsible for the conflagration. The metal pony was stepping out of the wreckage slowly, each hoofstep clanging over the rubble. Her hooves were glowing a fiery red, most likely the reason why the wall was now in pieces all over the place. "She must have made some modification that allowed her to use spells through the armor. That's brilliant." Even if he was a victim, he had to appreciate the feat of magical engineering.

His appreciation quickly soured when she stopped and raised a glowing hoof. Flames began to lick the air above it, and a ball of lava began to form out of the fire. "OH SH-"

The ball was thrown and it exploded right at his feet. The ground sizzled, and flames crackled, consuming the wooden scraps that the collapsed wall left behind. His eyes snapped up to see another one being thrown at him.

It landed behind him to the left. The flames were beginning to spread, and surround him. Another ball blew up and the base of his jeans caught fire. Scrambling, his hands reached down and smothered the flame before it could consume his whole leg.

Once the fire was out, Lucien looked up in a slight panic. The flames had now completely surrounded him. It wasn't a very good situation.

He needed to stall before the pony could get a good shot at him in his stationary position. His magic was not yet strong enough to formulate a way to put out the fire or teleport out. "Who are you!" he called out through the wall of flame.

Lucien ducked, expecting another ball to come crashing down. Nothing happened.

"Who am I?" the mare's voice could be heard over the crackling of the fire. "You may know me as Bronze Gear. But I shouldn't be the one telling you, when there's one who could give me a much better introduction." The flames died down and sputtered out.

He suddenly found himself face-to-face with the metal pony. Her mask had been removed, and some of the armor around the shoulders was shredded or missing completely. He noticed that her left leg, the one that he had jammed, still was out of commission.

A hoof reached out and punched him hard in the chest before grasping his shirt. He was lifted up into the air by the mare's impressive strength. Her horn ignited in a copper glow. His sword clattered to the ground.

"Twilight Sparkle! You know who I am! Come and tell your friend about me." She called out with a maniac's grin.

"Oh shit! I forgot she's here for Twilight!"

Silence blanketed the mostly-empty area for a few moments, then the sounds of hoofsteps could be heard echoing across the place. Lucien was unable to identify the source of them.

"Her name is Bronze Gear. She was Princess Celestia's ex-personal student, and one of the foremost engineering minds of this era." He heard Twilight say somewhere behind him.

"Correct! Now, can you elaborate a bit more on the nature of my visit?" Bronze asked in a sweet voice that betrayed the face of the deranged maniac that Lucien was looking into.

Twilight took a deep breath. "Bronze, as I said, was the Princess' last personal student, and I believe that she is here because she wants to get back at the Princess." Twilight exhaled. "She was dismissed under the reason of a 'dishonorable discharge' given by Princess Celestia. Her experiments on mechanical and biological fusion were inhumane, and she was caught stealing from the classified experimentation files in the Canterlot Castle Private Library. Her work became too violent, unethical, and obsessive for the Princess to continue funding, so they cut her off!" Twilight's voice grew stronger as she spoke, and Bronze's maniacal grin deepened into a scowl.

"They didn't just cut me off, they tried to have me destroyed! And now, I want to show my old teacher the pain of true loss! My work was my child! And every last scrap of it was obliterated! My entire laboratory and workshop in the castle pulverized!" Bronze roared. "My work is the future! I have seen what comes next! The future has been revealed to me and I am its creator!" The crazed mare panted. "Princess Celestia," she spat the words out with vehemence, "believed that my projects were a threat to ponykind, but she knew where they would lead me, and she was afraid to see it! To have the future become the present would topple her throne, and our gracious diarch wouldn't give up her spot above everypony else for anything; even fate! The Revolution of Machine will happen yet! And its beginning won't be delayed by any-"

She was suddenly cut off by a rather large foot to the face. "That's enough out of you!" Lucien shouted while slipping out of his shirt. He fell to the ground and grabbed at Balance.

He switched the blade to Chaos and brought it above his head. He drove it straight down, but it was deflected off of a metal hoof. The hammer smashed into the ground, causing a small crack to appear. He saw Bronze stagger from the effort of the deflection.

He swung the heavy weapon back up, nailing the mare in the side. He didn't stop the process of the swing, and brought it all the way around. Once its motion paused he reverted it back into Balance.

He launched his attack from that side, the blade cutting across the surface of the metal with a screech. His arm went through, and his combo continued with a similar swing from the opposite direction. He paused with his arm extended behind him and his legs slightly spread. Then, he spun around and dragged the blade across the armor twice. He finished the spin gracefully, with his body low to the ground, and Balance held behind his back, the blade perpendicular to the ground. He sliced across two more times, then grabbed the hilt with two hands and brought it upwards from its position down low with as much force as he could muster.

Bronze had no idea what hit her. The sword's vicious attack had launched her backwards and up into the air. She landed on her side on the ground a few seconds after.

Lucien was left holding Balance with its tip resting slightly in the ground, both hands holding onto its hilt with a deathly grip. He walked over to the spot where the pony lay a moment afterward. He was joined there by Twilight and her friends who had stepped out of the shadows after seeing that the danger had dissipated.

They gathered around Bronze in a circle and looked down at her. The armor was shredded completely. The pressure gauges on her shoulder were shattered, and the pipes were belching out small puffs of black smoke. Gears on her belly ticked erratically, some not moving at all. Small amounts of blood dripped out of open gashes in the armor.

She was still conscious despite the bleeding and the fall she had taken. Her eyes were darting around rapidly, and she grunted in exertion, trying to move in the now immobilized armor. Twilight and Lucien gathered in front of her face just as royal guards started to pour in from the rest of the city.

Bronze saw them coming and ceased her struggling. She knew she had been defeated. A sigh could be head from the metal mass at the ponies' feet. "I know that I won't be a part of the age that I've been shown. I know that my time will come before that glorious revolution. But, I am glad to go down as the catalyst of this event. I will not be forgotten." A fire burned fierce in her eyes as Lucien brought the hilt of his sword down on the side of her head, silencing her in unconsciousness.

Several guard members carted Bronze Gear off to the castle, where certain "bad things" would most likely happen to her. Every other guard member that wasn't participating in the escort was being yelled at by Twilight for their late response time. The battle, of course, had barely taken longer than seven minutes, but to Lucien it felt like a few weeks.

Princess Celestia arrived in her carriage with apologies for Luna's absence, and the situation was explained to her and the guard. A scribe took down all that Bronze said on a notepad and then rushed away to get it analyzed. Congratulations were given for taking down Bronze Gear before she could do something even more drastic. A guard member apologized for not noticing what was happening before it was too late, and for not preventing Bronze from attacking in the first place.

"But, there is one more thing I need ask of you." Princess Celestia said at the end of her little appreciation speech. The ponies, dragon, and human all perked up at hearing this. "I wish for you to go to Bronze's house in the Economic District. We believe the rest of her plans were concentrated there, and I want somepony I know I can trust to handle those blueprints." A guard member trotted up, bearing a slip of paper with an address written on it. "This is the address. I suggest you leave immediately."

The group turned to leave, but halted when Princess Celestia said, "Wait, Lucien." The human paused mid-step and turned to face the Princess. Then, to his, and the ponies' surprise, she bowed gracefully. "You have done Equestria a great service. We are in your debt."

The man was stunned. He didn't quite know how to react, so he just said, "I was just trying to protect my friends." The ponies and dragon smiled at that.

Celestia smiled warmly at the show of affection. "Now that that's taken care of, I suggest that you go."

The group set off instantly, not wanting to arrive at an empty house.

Lucien was the first to spot the address on the place, and he rushed to the front door. Not one to waste time, he quickly checked the hinges for signs of forced entry. Finding nothing, he took a step back and kicked with all his might, knocking the door right down. Those in his company gave him a light smattering of applause while he took an over-exaggerated bow.

They stepped inside and took a look around. The home was modest, a bit on the small side, with only one bedroom, one bathroom, and a living room at the entrance. A staircase off to the side led downward into a basement. The ponies began to move forward, but Lucien shot an arm out, stopping them before a single step could be taken.

"We need to check for traps. A smart engineer like Bronze wouldn't leave her place without booby-trapping it in a few places." He had robbed quite a few machinists in his time, and he knew from personal experience how crafty they could get with common household items such as a can of hairspray, duct tape, glue, and a feather duster.

Twilight's horn lit up in a detection spell and she closed her eyes. After a brief moment, she opened them again and shook her head. "I'm actually not picking up any explosives or anything out of the ordinary in the house."

Lucien scratched his chin. Perhaps he was wrong. Oh well.

He stepped boldly forward and walked into the basement, harboring no doubts that Bronze's research would be found down there. He opened the door and then froze in shock.

There was, of course, a forge and a workbench, but other than that, the place of empty. It was devoid of every scrap of paper, or blueprint, or chunk of metal. The ashes of the fire were cold in the furnace.

The ponies, dragon, and human looked around the area for clues. Lucien went straight for the workbench, noticing that something was on it. There was a shattered frame, containing a picture of what appeared to be Bronze Gear and Princess Celestia. Despite it being nearly burnt beyond recognition, he could still make out two bright smiles. It made Lucien think of the relationship he had with his mentor, Draco.

There was something else on the desk. A note. Lucien picked it up and read it.

Bronze,

I have taken the care of removing the contents of your basement workshop and distributed them to the individuals on your list. They also received specific instruction on their care and assembly. Congratulations on your meeting with Twilight Sparkle, I'm glad to see it went well.

There was no signature at the bottom. In slight frustration, Lucien turned it over and scanned the back.

The paper fluttered to the floor, suddenly dropped out of his grasp. It landed with the flip side facing up.

Taking up the whole entire back side was a drawing of a spade.

Author's Notes:

Well this certainly took me some time. I apologize for not getting it out sooner, but as you can see, it's a tad longer than other chapter's I've posted in the past. And, you know, life and stuff.

So, the first arc's done now. I plan on beginning my new story and writing another short of this one before moving into arc two. Sound like a plan?

Other things of note:
-The first few chapters are all edited/redone now. You should probably go back and re-read Chapter 1, (the one after the prologue) because it changed drastically.

-This chapter broke ten thousand words. Holy shet, did I really write that much?

-And check this out! It's so cool!

Right?!
It was made by Jess887cp and now I love him. Thanks, man!

-Last thing is that you can now check my progress on each new chapter for my stories by looking beneath my bio on my user page. Percentages are not always accurate, so don't read too much into them.

That's all for now, thanks for reading!
~Sandcroft

Short: "Too Nice"

The following chapter you are about to read is NON-CANON and should be treated as such. Enjoy.

Lucien was walking through the streets of a crowded Canterlot. His previous misadventures following his time spent in a market stall had led him to wandering around the bustling city. Strangely, not a single pony had so much raised an eyebrow at his rather tall stature and odd appearance. He was easily able to peer over the heads of the ponies. He must have gotten in the rush-hour to get to work.

He bumped into a pony walking by. The pony apologized and the two kept on their separate paths. Lucien stepped out of the crowd and under the awning of a storefront. He looked around and up at the surrounding buildings. "This place isn't too different from New York. The only differences are that it smells nicer here and the ponies are way more friendly."

He raised a chin to his face in thought. "I wonder what it would take to piss off a pony here." An evil grin slowly spread across his face, and he nailed a low chuckle, just like a true villain. Because nothing is more maniacal than pissing off people for no reason whatsoever.

He took another gander at his surroundings, this time with different eyes. The first time was a simple comparison to his world, but now, he saw opportunities everywhere he looked. "Well, this is a good a place to start as any."

Lucien quickly jogged forward until he found an alleyway. There he ducked behind a few pony-sized trashcans, which barely covered him up, and began to cast a spell.

When Lucien walked out of that alleyway, he was wearing a cheap-looking suit and striped necktie, had light scruff on his face, was wearing square-ish glasses, and was carrying a clipboard. In short, the perfect disguise for a petitioner.

He dipped into the crowd and tapped on the shoulder of the first pony he saw, a red pegasus stallion. The pony looked over quickly, and Lucien began his speech. "Excuse me, can I have a moment of your time please?"

The pony jumped out of the crowd and sat down in front of Lucien. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Oh shit. He didn't brush past me."

"Oh, um, I was hoping you could sign this . . .?" Lucien held out his clipboard and pen.

"Alight." The pony took the pen in his mouth and signed his name, then gave it back to Lucien. "Anything else?"

"Uh, no, thank you for your time." Lucien replied, stunned that the pony actually stepped out of line like that.

"Cool. Bye then." The pegasus performed a short wave and jumped back with the crowd.

Lucien flipped the clipboard around and took a look at the name signed, while mumbling to himself, "I can't believe . . ."

Then he saw the name signed with a flourish.

Petition:

Red Sox

"Bullshit."

Lucien stripped himself of his disguise soon after the petition failed. Now, he was somewhere in what seemed to be downtown Canterlot. The streets had become slightly less crowded but they were narrower. Carriages whizzed by every once in a while on his right. "Wait. Carriages."

He looked around quickly, and spotted a pony trying to hail a carriage a ways down the street from him. The mare looked agitated, like she was late for something. "Another perfect opportunity," he thought, rubbing his hands together evilly.

He ran right in front of the mare and waved down a cab-- carriage. The vehicle stopped right in front of him and Lucien opened the door. He jumped in and turned to close the door, but it was already being closed. By the mare that he had stolen the ride from. The carriage started to move, and Lucien pressed right up against the door to catch a glimpse of the mare.

There she was. Waving to him. "What the hell."

Lucien was broken out of his stupor when he heard the voice of the driver call to him, "Where ya headed, buddy?"

"Maybe this attempt could still be salvaged."

"Uh, Canterlot Castle?" Lucien called back.

"Sure thing!" the pony said, then turned around and said to the stallions pulling the carriage, "Canterlot Castle you guys! Let's roll!"

The trip was about ten minutes long, and it gave Lucien just enough time to put his plan into concrete. The carriage rolled to a stop just before the gates of Canterlot Castle.

"Here we are, friend! And in ten minutes, no less!" the cab-- carriage driver called to Lucien.

Lucien got out, and walked to the driver's seat. "Okay, how much do I owe you?" he asked.

The pony smiled and said, "That'll be five bits."

Lucien made a show of checking all his pockets slowly, and he watched the driver's smile slowly fall. Lucien was in the process of checking his shoes for his nonexistent money when the pony held out a gray hoof. "Don't worry about the money, friend. It was a short trip anyway." He picked up the reins and drove away, almost running over Lucien's jaw, which was currently on the floor.

"He didn't charge me. What."

"Okay, this next one has to work. It has never failed me in the past, and it won't fail me now."

Lucien was standing in the middle of a park. One that looked suspiciously like Central Park in New York. He chalked that one up to another strange coincidence.

Somewhere along his way there he had conjured a paper bag filled with bread. Bread that was now torn up into crumbs.

He was looking down a pathway that seemed to cut through the whole park. Trees lined the sides of the walkway, providing shade for benches beneath their leafy canopies. Numerous couples cooed at each other while they stretched out on the wooden benches.

But it was the other form of cooing that Lucien was paying attention to. More specifically, the cooing of hundreds, if not thousands, of winged rats-- pigeons.

They flanked the area, shitting all over the ground, trees, ponies, and various statues. Tons of them were camped out on the grass, while even more were perched up in the trees. "If there's one similarity between our two worlds that I can count on, it's the hatred of pigeons."

Lucien took his bag in one hand and began to wander down the walkway. He reached a hand inside its papery exterior and grasped at its breaded interior. A good sized fistful of the wheat-laden substance was grabbed, and he withdrew his hand. He looked down at it, prepared to make a tactical throw.

Instead, he casually flung it to the side, right at a couple sitting on a bench. The crumbs bounced all around them, then settled a minute afterward.

Every avian head in the park suddenly turned to look at the freshly spilled mixture of flour and water. Silence was the only thing heard from the trees. Lucien grinned evilly, holding his pose of throwing the crumbs. The couple had yet to notice anything other than each others' face.

He waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Lucien dropped his arms, and the grin leapt off his face to make room for one of exasperation. He looked up at the trees and flung up his arms in an insulting manner.

The bag hit the ground and he walked away.

Lucien found himself walking through a residential area of Canterlot. The buildings stretched upward instead of outward, and he knew that they were homes. But to him, they were just more opportunities.

He walked forward in angry strides, bothered by the fact that the ponies weren't being bothered by his actions. But this next one had to work. There was no way it couldn't.

He saw a burly earth pony stallion sitting on his front porch, occasionally taking a sip from a drink he held in his hoof.

Lucien walked up, then slowed down when he reached the steps of the house. He leaned down and picked up the newspaper sitting there. He looked up at the pony to see his reaction.

He was smiling at him.

Lucien unrolled the paper and began to read. Then he started to walk away. The stallion said nothing.

Lucien turned to look back before rounding a corner, and was rewarded with a friendly wave from the pony he had just stolen a newspaper from.

He violently threw the paper into a trash can and kept walking.

Alright, this was his last attempt. His end-all. His trump card. Nothing could piss off a pony more than insulting the city that they reside in.

Lucien sat down outside a coffee place by the public library, which just happened to have two stone manticores guarding the entrance, much like two lions would a different library.

A teal mare took a seat at a table in front of him. "Okay, this is it. Last chance," Lucien fumed.

He walked over and pulled up a chair. "Hey," he said.

"Hi."

"Nice weather we're having, huh?"

The mare looked up at the sky. "Sure are."

"You know where the weather's nicer?"

"Where?"

"Ponyville."

The mare grinned. "Ponyville? That charming little town outside of Canterlot? I simply adore that place!"

"I also think their community is better too. Less crowded, less . . ." he turned up his nose, "Stinky."

The mare smiled sympathetically. "I know darling, this old city could use a bit of a clean up."

Everything broke inside of Lucien. He teleported away quickly, in a brief flash of green light. He didn't even care where he ended up, he just needed to get away.

His rage could be heard from miles around.

Author's Notes:

Hehheueheeuuehheueeuhe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CWyialymHg

And I'm only writing this because I finished the first chapter of my other new story, Revolution

Chapter 13: The Secret World

Lucien awoke the next morning to a pounding head and aching ribs. He coughed, hard. He was sure that a few ribs had been either cracked or broken. He stretched his arms and legs out to check that they were still intact. They were, of course. He just had to make sure. After a moment of faint trepidation, he felt to see if his mana stores will still present. He felt the raw energy inside him ignite, and it left him smiling.

He was laying in a soft, large bed. He stretched out his senses briefly and checked to see if anyone else was in the room with him. There were no flames of energy besides his own, but there were traces of it leading all around his bed. There were several spots on chairs and the floor that held a greater concentration. Those were spots where energy lingered for longer, as if someone sat down for sometime. "Looks like seven beings stayed the night in the room with me. Gee, I wonder who that could have been?" But he still did wonder where they went.

He chuckled, but it transformed into a cough almost immediately. "I am seriously neglecting my own personal health. Why I didn't feel this bad yesterday?"

With a groan, he swung his legs over the side of the bed and got up in one swift motion. His head spun for a few moments before clearing. He walked over to a small door on the left and went through. As he had expected, the door led to a grand-ish bathroom. Grand-ish because, despite the fact that it was the single most amazingly decorated bathroom he had ever seen, it was still pony-sized.

He walked up to the sink and turned on the faucets. He splashed cold water in his face and met his eyes in the mirror before him. "I need to shave . . ." he thought idly. Then, on a bit of an impulse, he conjured up a razor and did just that. Afterwards, he took a shower and hand-washed his clothes in a little basin off to the side. Upon putting them back on, he felt like a new man.

He mended his probably broken ribs with a quick, but costly, healing spell.

That fight with Bronze Gear didn't go so smooth as he had expected. And it wasn't just because he didn't have access to magic. He knew that he needed more experience with his weapon.

So he decided to take advantage of the fact that he was awake early in Canterlot, and find his way to the libraries that Twilight had told him about when they were relating stories. He exited what he supposed to be his guest bedroom in the Canterlot Castle Towers and started his long walk down the open staircase.

After ten minutes of walking, fuming from the impossibly long walk. "What is the point of making a tower so freakin' tall?! What is the purpose of building something this massive and putting one room in it?! Bad architect, bad!"

He sighed and put a hand to his face. "There has to be a quicker way down this, and I don't think Equestria's developed elevators yet."

An idea popped into his mind. It wasn't his best idea, but it would allow him to reach the ground without walking down all those damned stairs!

Without a second thought, he turned left and vaulted over the side of the railing.

The wind whipped around his clothing and brought tears to his eyes. Of course, he had fallen from greater distances in his long years, but going from this high is still a rush.

He gathered mana in his palms quickly. It pooled up and little green droplets of energy fell and dissipated into the air. His descent slowed greatly until he was practically hovering. He eased up on the flow to his hands and floated down gently.

He landed right on his feet without any complications and continued walking. After a few steps, he fell to one knee as the strain of expending so much mana after using that healing spell hit his mind in full force. Once the feeling had subsided, he looked around at the ponies that had bore witness to his epic and graceful landing. His face turned red as he stood back up. "Uh . . . don't try that at home . . .?" he tried.

The three or four ponies just responded by shaking their heads and moving on with their business. "Right . . ."

He chose a random, important-looking building and walked off in that direction. According to Twilight, the library was at the top floor of the building she stayed at while underneath the Princess' tutelage. Well, that palace he was making for seemed pretty likely to hold a library and living quarters.

He made it there it about ten minutes, give or take. His excuse being that his legs hurt from the fight yesterday, and that palace was a lot farther away than he thought it to be.

The ornate doors stood to be around seven times his height, and stylized with various celestial images. The sides of it were obviously made of gold. Solid gold. Vanity, ponies is thy name.

He pushed the heavy-looking doors open with aid from his magic, just a shove of energy, and stepped in to look around. The first thing he noticed was that the place was huge. The entryway was almost like the Taj Mahal. It stretched back into the building much further than he gave it credit for when looking at it on the outside. The second thing he noticed was that the walls were lined with ponies sitting on chairs. And they were all staring at him.

He stood stock-still for a moment, bearing the full force of their awkward stares. His face began to grow hot, and he felt as if he was interrupting something important. Not wanting to be the odd one out, he strode down the hall as fast as his legs would allow, while not running. "Running would only make it worse," he concluded.

He made it to the end of the hallway and took an immediate right through a pair of slightly-larger-than-average sized doors. His hand grabbed at the handle frantically, and he opened it up, jumped through, then spun around and closed it. His hands rested on the ornate handles for a moment longer before he turned and put his back to the door.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He always hated being the center of attention like that. Then, the sound of plates clinking together brought him out of his thoughts. He stared straight ahead at the two ponies that were sharing the room he was in.

And the two alicorns stared right back at him. "Hello, Lucien," Celestia greeted.

"Uh, hi... Princesses?" This was so far out of left-field he didn't really know how to react.

"Would you like to join us for tea?" Celestia inquired politely.

"Sure, I guess," he said, then he sat down on an empty cushion. "So, how's it going?" he asked.

Celesia smiled at his informality. She rolled her eyes in mock-annoyance, then said, "Oh, those nobles are such a pain to deal with sometimes. Just earlier today one of them had the nerve to request your immediate arrest." She chuckled lightly.

Lucien, however, was immediately alarmed. "And you denied it, right?"

"Of course."

A moment of silence pervaded the room. Luna sipped at her tea, and Lucien fidgeted in his cushion. "If you don't mind me asking, what were his grounds?"

"It was a lot of screaming, but I was able to make out 'rainbow,' and 'cabbages.'"

"Oh. So that's what happened to that one cabbage vendor."

He laughed, trying to cover up his undoubtedly surprised expression. "Cabbages?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the matter further, saying only, "Yes, cabbages."

Teacups were sipped from.

The faint ticking of a clock could be made out.

Lucien began to feel uncomfortable.

"Princess," Lucien started, but Celestia held up a hoof.

"When we aren't in the company of others, just 'Celestia' will do."

"Right, Celestia." It felt strange to him to address royalty in such a manner. "I was wondering if you could give me directions to the castle's library. Twilight mentioned it to me once and I'm curious about it."

"Of course. Guard!" she shouted towards the door.

Immediately a bleach white stallion wearing golden armor rushed into the room. "Your Highness!" he saluted.

"Take Lucien here to the library in which Twilight Sparkle used to spend so much time in. The one with the floor-to-ceiling windows." Celestia ordered, then smiled at Lucien warmly. "Before you go, I just wanted to thank you personally for what you did yesterday. Taking on Bronze like that must have been difficult. I apologize for both my lack of appearance and my guard's until after you subdued her. And I would also like to inform you that we have our brightest minds trying to track down the pony that left the note at Bronze's house. If you wish to check their progress just ask a guard to take you to the Detective Building." She nodded to the guard and he opened the door for Lucien.

"You're welcome, Princess. It was fascinating to see Bronze's machine in action, even if it did cause some damage." He started to walk out, but then rounded back. "And, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the bomb that was set off?"

Her ears moved backward a bit, and her smiling face morphed to one of confusion. "I'm sorry?"

Lucien raised an eyebrow. "The bomb that neutralized our magic?"

"I'm afraid we didn't find anything of the sort when we examined the area. There was a large crater in the middle of the grass . . ." her eyes darted about rapidly as she thought of the implications. "It can't be possible. There is no conceivable way something capable of so much destruction could have escaped us." Her eyes met Lucien's again.

"I will go and speak with the Detective Force right away. An item—no, a weapon—as dangerous as that must not be allowed duplication." She paused for a moment and regained her composure. "We will work on it. Thank you for the information, Lucien. Farewell for now."

As Lucien and the guard were walking out, Lucien could just make Celestia's voice calling to a secretary, "Suspend Day Court for the time being. There are more pressing matters at hoof currently."

The two arrived at the library after a few short minutes of walking. Lucien pestered the guard pony slightly along the way.

"Hey."

...

"How ya doing?"

...

"Nice weather we're having, huh?"

...

"Are we there yet?"

The sound of a hoof connecting with a face could be heard from miles away.

The pony stomped off after dumping Lucien at the feet of a grand building with pillars in the front and vaulted windows on the sides. It was multi-leveled, probably stretching up at least four stories. In short, a damn good library.

Lucien walked up to the front and tugged open the large doors with a little effort. His first sight was that of books. Many, many books stretching to the back wall. He moved forward rapidly and looked up. He was correct about the four stories. From his point on the ground he could see each individual tier of bookcases up to the ceiling.

It reminded him of his first times in his mentor's unrealistically large "home" library. The amount of time he spent in there was immeasurable, as was his appetite for learning. Literally every book he got his tiny hands on was read in record-breaking speed. The concept of magic was very new to him at the time and each aspect of it fascinated him.

He could still see himself as that young boy, even many years later, drawn in to that secret world he had been invited to. Draco was more of a father to him than the one who had brought him into the world. "I can't even remember my father's face."

Lucien's expression fell for a moment and he was sharply pulled out of his reverie. The thought—the concept, even—of forgetting such an important fact stunned him. The worst part, so he thought, was that he could still recall his mother's face, if only slightly. "Kind blue eyes, tight lips, rounded nose, auburn hair."

His nerves were steadied by a bit when he recalled her features.

"Enough of this. I have a library to get to." He took off in a search for anything related to swordplay. He had always been better at learning by the book instead of example.

He had read for about an hour, or so he thought, when he heard his name called from down below. He stood up and walked to the center balcony then looked down. The girls were there, along with Spike. Each was looking in a different direction. Then, to his amusement, a librarian popped out of nowhere and shushed them.

He called out, "Hey girls," softly, then waved an arm as they looked up. He still had the book he had been reading in his other hand. He pointed out the stairs and motioned for them to join him. They understood and trotted off towards the stairwell he had come up.

Twilight was the first to reach him. "I'm glad to see you're awake Lucien!" she said in a loud whisper.

"Glad to be awake, Twilight. How did I get in that tower anyway?"

Applejack cut in. "The Princess suggested ya take one of the spare guest towers. We all spent the night there after carrying you up."

"You carried me up?"

Her ears folded back. "After reading that note in Bronze Gear's house you just kinda... passed out. We got you to the tower and gave the note to the Princess. Ah guess we'll hear 'bout that later."

He nodded, taking in the information. "That note... the spade... and what did it say? Something about sending out blueprints?" He banished the thoughts from his mind and refocused on the ponies in front of him.

"Well, I've just been here reading for the past hour or so. My fight with Bronze didn't go as well as I had anticipated, as if I anticipated it at all. So now I'm studying up with any swordplay books I can find."

The group, excluding a certain purple unicorn, chuckled. "What?" Lucien asked.

"You're just like Twilight," giggled Pinkie Pie.

Lucien laughed softly. "Yeah, I guess I do seem like her now, huh?"

Twilight blushed and her eyes met the ground, but she had a little smile on her face. "I'm not like that!" she retaliated.

Everyone stopped laughing and gave her a look of sheer unamusement.

"Maybe just a little."

Their laughter rang through the library until the librarian shushed them again.

They talked for some time after that. Meaningless things, mostly. Just normal-people talk, as Lucien liked calling it. He had forgotten about the events of last night entirely. The conversation slowed down a bit after Applejack finished a story, one involving a penguin and a jar of mayonnaise. They had gone silent, unsure of what to say next. Luckily, Twilight filled in the gap.

"Hey, Spike?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind taking the girls to Doughnut Joe's? I'll meet you all there later," she said, but Lucien felt he could discern the reason behind it.

"Sure Twilight. C'mon girls!" Spike got up and started to walk away with the five mares in tow.

Lucien and Twilight watched the group until they walked out the door of the library and then went back to sit down. Lucien plunked down in his chair and winced as it groaned loudly. "So," he started, "what do you want to know?"

She blinked. "How did you—"

"Magic," he cut her off expertly while wiggling his fingers in a mysterious fashion.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Well, I wanted to ask you a few more questions about the world you came from. Earth, you called it?"

"She's still on this?" he thought with slight confusion. "I'll give you a rundown, I guess." He took a deep breath. "The world I came from isn't entirely different from the one you have here. Magic isn't exactly 'readily available' to the public, so we developed industry and technology instead. We evolved from wooden tools in the Ancient Times to iron tools many years later, then industry developed and we switched to steel. Now we have guns and bombs and other weapons of mass destruction, and the world will degrade back to the time of wooden tools.

"Of course, that won't happen for a while still, but not too long after my time. Nowadays, our technology and science have given us abilities that we wouldn't have dreamt of no less than 100 years ago. The ability to move at hundreds of miles-per-hour, to fly without wings, to talk to people halfway across the world with a push of a button," he sighed and put a hand to his forehead. "And of course, what would a developing world be without its share of wars?

"The book of war, one that we have been writing since one monkey slapped another, has grown so much since the past, nobody's even sure of how thick it would be now. Wars began when one person wanted something another person had. Or if somebody disagreed with another's point of view. Clashes of sword and spear, gunfights... bombings... all of it designed so one person could outright destroy the other. It's grown alongside our technology, and it will lead us to our eventual destruction. Of that, I'm sure." He paused after his long speech. "Why does humanity have to be so stupid? I'm not afraid of admitting our faults, but just why?"

"What about magic on your world?" asked Twilight, her eyes focused on him intently.

"Magic has been around for as long as we magicians can remember. The Egyptians, a race of people that lived in the sand and believed in the gods, were the first to really utilize it. People would be inducted into a secret society called the House of Life and they would be taught how to use magic and follow the path of the gods. That's also the time that the first monsters and demons came about." Lucien sighed. "If you look at any city now, you can trace its roots back to ancient Egypt. That's how influential their empire was.

"But you probably want to hear about modern-day magic and magicians such as myself, correct?"

She nodded.

"Right, right. Had to set the scene before giving you the story, yeah? Magic is steadily becoming more popular nowadays. The House of Life was the largest society of magicians that ever existed, as far as I know, and it's beginning to make a comeback, I believe. Even so, some people like me just keep to themselves for the most part. Magicians played huge roles in wars in the last 200 years or so, and now they're taking an even more active role.

"There's still fair amount of people on my planet that don't see beyond what's in front of their eyes. They see their jobs and families and life in general. That's good. That's what keep them safe." He paused, and looked down. "They don't know what's truly out there." He shook his head. "I pity them, but envy them at the same time. Those ordinary, lucky bastards that don't have to constantly deal with 'mythical' creatures hunting you down."

"Even in the cities?"

He nodded. "Especially in the cities. That's where it's usually the safest."

"Why can't they see them?"

"Well, it's not that they can't see them. Because they definitely can. It's just a problem of believing it. Seeing is believing, Twilight, but sometimes you have to believe to see. That's the thought that guided me through many encounters with the impossible." He sighed. "Some of what I've seen," his voice broke for a moment, "I wouldn't wish it on anybody. Monsters... we grew up being told they weren't real. But look at it now, every myth, every legend, every fable, even every government conspiracy, all true. And as we were threatened, we combined forces in factions.

"It started out slowly, naturally. After the second World War, not everybody was all that trusting. Our species had almost been wiped out by no threat other than ourselves. Magicians that were alone and fresh out of the war were picked off by monsters and a group of mage-killers who called themselves Hunters. We were hunted down almost to extinction. Then, slowly, alliances were formed. Our rates of survival went up, and factions formed.

"There are three major ones today," he counted them off on his fingers while he spoke them, "the House of Life, the Company of Magicians, and the Tribune of Magic, and 'Big Brother' Trireme Council." He shook his head.

"You don't like them?"

"Not a single one of the three, well, four I guess, but that last one isn't really a faction."

"Then what is it?"

"A group of a few elders and their assorted underlings that acts as a sort of principal of the factions, making sure nobody oversteps the line into some more dangerous things. They're usually pretty useless, considering how the factions generally keep in line because they're too afraid to experiment with things that are more... out there... but they give big assignments occasionally, and they pay well."

"What about the others?"

"The Tribune is a group that based their mannerisms and 'beliefs' off of old systems. They are the oldest faction in existence now, originating somewhere in the late 1950s. They have all these councils and tribunes and nothing ever gets done with all the politics flying around now. Not to mention they have a 'High Order' of some ten people that have a massive superiority complex.

"The Company is, in my opinion, the worst of the three. They're the most modern, having formed just at the turn of the 21st Century. They're the puppetmasters, the corporate manipulators, the greedy. They're the ones that want the wealth and power by any means necessary. It's disgusting, what they do to others. Unfortunately, that's the one that I've had the most history with, but we can talk about that some other time.

"The last group is the House. They took their name from the old House of Life that I told you about in Egypt. And, just like the original House, they defend humanity from demons and monsters and whatnot. Their soldiers are sophisticated, but not as much as the Company's are. I find them to be tolerable, at the most. The biggest qualm I have with them is that they're ridiculous workaholics, which is fine and all in the world we live it, but sometimes it leads them to make... morally questionable decisions."

Twilight paused a moment, lost in thought. "Where do you stand?"

"What?"

"You said there are three factions. While you don't like any of them, you have to be in one in order to survive, right?"

"Well," he started, "not exactly. I'm a freelance magician, meaning I'm unaligned. My mentor, Draco, was a member of the Tribune who got out when things began to calm down a bit. Later on he awoke me, then taught me what he knew." His eyes met the floor briefly. "I don't know where he is now." He smiled and looked back up. "Probably off fighting some demons somewhere in Italy, I guess. He was one powerful old man, alright."

He began to slip off into his memories when Twilight asked him another question. "So then how did you get here?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, here." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I was... trying to summon a demon...?"

"You what?!" Twilight exclaimed, before being shushed by the librarian a third time.

"Well, I needed power to fuel a spell, so I made a summoning circle. About three quarters of the way in, my stupid cat jumped on one of the symbols and smudged it. It changed the spell so much it transported me to Equestria instead of transporting a demon to my circle."

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!" Twilight asked in a furious whisper.

"Yeah, I know, but believe me," he held up a hand, "I would have handled it." He closed his fist and it crackled with green energy that faded quickly.

"Ugh..." She trailed off staring at his hand, then suddenly perked up again. "Can I analyze your magic?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your magic... can I analyze it?"

"Uh, sure." He held up a green hand, unsure of what to do.

"Oh, please." Twilight reached across the table they were sitting at and grabbed his hand. She touched her horn to it and Lucien felt a slight tugging sensation at the back of his mind. "So right now I'm borrowing a bit of your mana to analyze how your body processes it.

The tip of her horn started to glow green. As time went on, the green spread down further down her horn, eventually reaching her forehead. It looked to Lucien like the loading bar on a computer.

"Fascinating," she said after she pulled her head back. "Your magic is similar to the natural forces here on Equis." She noticed Lucien's confused expression, then added, "this planet."

She created a small ball of mana in front of her, solidifying it slowly. "It behaves so freely, I can tell there's so much to be done with it." The ball hardened until it was completely solid. "You can manipulate it so easily, you can do almost anything with it."

"Wait, you don't have as much magical freedom here?"

She regarded him with her large violet eyes. "No. Our magic conforms to rules just like those of physics and the like. It's very strict, what we can and can't do. But this," she looked back to the ball and picked it up in her hoof, "has almost limitless usage."

"But that also leaves many possibilities for error," Lucien interjected. "A single mistake on what you want a spell to perform can cause its results to become... unpredictable. Hell, I'm only here now because of a single smudged symbol, one of at least thirty that I drew as part of that summoning."

"Wow. That's pretty severe."

Lucien shrugged. "That's what comes with power like this. Gotta use it right, or not at all."

Twilight blinked, unable to imagine refusing to use magic. "Well, thanks for the information Lucien," she said, sensing he was done talking. "It was great hearing about your world for a change; and your magic fascinates me." She yawned and looked out the wide window across the floor of the library.

The light outside was slowly fading, and she could barely make out the orange glow of the sunset from the other side of the sky. A few low-hanging clouds were scattered through the horizon, offset against the mountainous background behind it.

"Has all that time passed already? It felt like minutes." Lucien said, gazing out the window with Twilight. "We should probably head back to the towers." He began to walk towards the stairs but froze and turned. "Wait, where are the rest of you staying? I know that you slept in my room last night, but I just chalked that up to my unconsciousness."

Twilight's grinned sheepishly. "Well, we didn't really make arrangements for us to sleep somewhere after last night. I didn't expect to be staying overnight in Canterlot when we first got here, because of... Bronze." She looked away and her ears folded back.

"Twilight, is something wrong?"

"I..." she glanced at his face. "I feel guilty about what happened last night."

"Twilight-"

"No, Lucien. I'm responsible for what happened with her. Once you got past all the crazy rambling, Bronze had a point, along with a reason to be angry. She felt replaced and forgotten, like the Princess brushed her aside. If I had never come along, or found a way to keep her in the Castle-"

"Twilight, stop." Lucien said forcefully. "You can't blame something like that on yourself. There is something wrong in Bronze Gear's mind. She would have snapped eventually no matter what. And all her talk about the new 'Age of Machine' just proves my point."

"But-"

"No buts. She is crazy and it's just a coincidence that she snapped and struck out at you. This is all on her."

Lucien pointed towards the stairs and Twilight turned around slowly. She started to walk off to them, head held low. Lucien felt a slight ache in his heart. He caught up quickly and put a hand on the back of her neck. She turned her head to face him. He opened up his arms and she took the opportunity to give him a big hug.

After a few moments, she pulled back, eyes tinged red and damp. "It scared me, what she did."

"Hmm?"

She stared right into his eyes. "She nullified my magic. Yours too. That was a terrifying experience, even if it didn't last very long." She shivered slightly, thinking of the emptiness it left, and then pushed away from him, beginning to walk again. "Magic is my life. It's my special talent, it's what I was born to do, it's my element. I was helpless to do anything, and the others were affected by it too. I love them, but I doubt they felt it anywhere near as acutely as the two of us did. We, who are tied closely to that energy." She broke off.

"Having my power snuffed that easily was... something else. I understand what you are saying. I practically grew up with magic, and it's never deserted me before. I felt useless, almost. But I had to fight to protect you seven. You're the only things in my crazy life that are keeping me grounded." He sighed. They were almost out the door.

"I'm not sure if I even want to go back to Earth." He opened the door for her and they walked out into the twilight, each feeling a new bond tie a knot around them. Not one of love, but of kindred mages.

Author's Notes:

Hey I'm back!

And this story almost has 200 likes!

And I have 30 followers!
(Benchmarking the two of those things)

And I have a plan for where this story is going!

I'm excited!

Woo!

---

Edited chapter, big changes.

Chapter 14: Moving Forward

The rather large group of eight were on a train back to Ponyville the day after Lucien awoke. Lucien himself rode in silence while the rest of the girls chatted about the glamour of Canterlot. He didn't really have much input on the subject, considering how he spent his time there either sleeping or reading.

He had gleaned some information on swordsmanship from the books he read. Mostly tips on how to make strikes and blocks more effective. The styles printed in it were of no use to him whatsoever. Probably because they were all designed to be performed by quadrupeds and not bipeds. He had a feeling that, at some point on his journey, walking on two legs would bite him in the ass. He supposed that was it. Or maybe it was just the universe sending him a warning that something worse would happen because he walks on two legs.

He didn't really know.

And the books he read would only help slightly on his quest to be a better fighter. His arsenal contains more weapons than just the sword. The hammer is a completely different style, and he doesn't favor heavy weaponry in the slightest. The chakrams would be the worst though. Even if light, ranged attacks were more his forte, he doubted they even existed in Equestria. How would a pony even use them?

In a brief flash of blue, Harmony's dual chakrams materialized in his hands. "Hooves wouldn't work with this weapon. It's like a gun. Can't throw these, can't pull a trigger on that," he thought. He released his grip on Harmony and to his surprise they rotated rapidly. Instead of falling from his hands, they floated a few centimeters above them. He closed his fingers once again and the blades stopped flashing. The deadly weapons disappeared from his hands, and he noticed something.

The boxcar had gone quiet.

"Lucien... what are you doing?" Applejack asked carefully.

"Hmm? Oh!" Harmony flashed blue and disappeared. "I was just lost in thought again, I guess. Happens a lot."

"Alrighty then," Applejack replied carefully.

The chat resumed quickly afterward, albeit at a lower volume. They had moved onto the subject of places to eat at in Equestria, but it sounded uneasy to Lucien's practiced ears. He sighed silently. Maybe they wouldn't ever truly trust him? With all the crazy stunts and acts he puts on, they would have a right for distrust.

Especially after moments like his discussion with Bronze before they fought. He had almost scared himself with the rage formed from losing his magic. That was him flying off the handle practically with an acrobatic fucking pirouette. And moments like what just happened, where he just zones out with his weapons. Well, that would make anyone nervous.

Right?

Yeah, probably.

The train stopped at the station. Goodbyes were exchanged and each lifeform walked off to his/her own home. Except for Lucien, he teleported.

His arrival at home was unexciting. He trudged in through the front door simultaneously kicking off his front shoes. He shuffled across the marble floors to the living room. He flopped down in a comfy couch that was given to him on the night of his housewarming party. He couldn't remember who, exactly.

Ah, who was he kidding, only Rarity would be so generous as to give him a whole freakin' couch as a present.

Thinking of Rarity, she was a seamstress. He could use some new clothes. While the duds he was wearing would never be replaced, he figured a jacket of some sort would be in order for when it got cold. His internal measurement system told him the weather was steadily getting colder. Winter must be moving in.

He sighed again. He would need to get a lot done before it was cold outside. And judging by the numerous streams and lakes, and by Ponyville's proximity to the mountains, it snows in Ponyville. Perhaps a checklist would be in order.

He stood up from his somewhat-comfortable position on the couch and jumped over the back of it, walking towards his office. A sheet of paper and a quill were ready for his use. Using magic, he wrote out a list rapidly of chores that needed to be taken care of within the next few weeks.

Chores that Need to be Taken Care of Within the Next few Weeks

- Take out the trash.

- Brew heat potions to stock the heaters.

- Craft heaters.

- Distribute the rest of the potions to the ponies. (And get paid)

- Close the potion business. (Don't want to steal all of Zecora's clientele)

- Clear space in front lawn and backyard for flowers of Winter breeding.

- Begin plans for Greenhouse and reagent growth.

- Search major libraries for books concerned with my weapons.

-Talk to Rarity about Winter clothes.

- Talk to Twilight.

He looked down at it. Satisfied that he managed to remember everything, but slightly saddened by the amount of work some would require. Getting down to it immediately would be the best idea, he believed. Without a second thought, he took out the trash.

When he returned indoors, the sun was setting. He crossed out the first item on his list with a smug look on his face. "What's the next thing to do?" He set the potions to brew overnight, and planned to collect the first batch tomorrow morning. When he was done with that, he would then deliver the other potions to those who ordered them and tell them that he was done being an alchemist. After the deliveries he would talk to Twilight about the books and ask for her help in regards to the workings of his weapons.

Perhaps he could get started on the heaters and other home renovations within the next few weeks. Winter was coming fast, but not that fast. Some laziness could be indulged. Perhaps laziness right away. He didn't have anything left to do today, so he decided to kick back and relax for the evening.

He leapt back onto the couch and stretched out. A book that he received from Twilight at his party levitated in front of his face. He began reading and was soon enveloped by the story.

"Wait.

"Something's not right."

He held up a hand and a Dr. Pepper materialized in it. The tab cracked open with a sharp pop and he took a big swig.

"Yep."

"This is the life."

He set out for the library immediately after getting up the next morning. He felt rested, but hungry. He couldn't quite remember the last time he had something really material to eat. "Didn't Twilight mention something about one of her friends running a bakery or something?"

"Yep!" said a cheery voice from his left.

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice, but he hid it very well. "Pinkie Pie. Good to see you." He looked over at the pink party pony bouncing along at his side. "Think I can get something to eat at your store?"

"Sure! We have all kinds of stuff for you to eat. I don't really know what humans like, but I bet we can find you something around there!" She grinned broadly.

"Do you have muffins?" he asked, already predicting the answer.

"Yeppirooni!" she replied, then, in a quieter voice, "or is it spelled yepperooni? Yepppeerooooni?"

"She's doing it again," he thought. Even though he had seen her behave like this before, he still didn't know what to make of it.

"Oh look, we're here!" she shouted suddenly. The duo looked up at the giant, candy-coated gingerbread house that cleverly concealed a bakery. It looked delicious to Lucien, even though he was sure it wasn't real candy.

"I guess I'm the only one who knows that." As the two passed through the doorway, he noticed numerous bite marks all over the place on the exterior. All he could do was shake his head at the ignorance of some ponies.

The inside was as frosting-coated as the exterior was, if not more so. Pinkie Pie dove behind a sweets display case and reappeared behind the register with a smile, somehow changing into an apron along the way. The treats behind the glass looked amazing, each one done in bright colors that seemed to show off the flavor.

"So! What can I get ya?" She asked while leaning against the register.

Lucien looked over the sugary treats, undecided. "Well . . ." His eyes lingered a bit on a cupcake that seemed to just be sprinkles and nothing else. "Do you have anything a little more, I don't know, breakfast-y?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Ooooh. You want breakfast! I'll go check!" She sped off into the adjoining room.

Only to reappear a few moments afterward. She held a paper bag in her mouth. Lucien eyed it, trying to decide what the pink pony would try to feed him. She put it down on the counter and stepped back, as if to say 'go ahead, take a look.'

Lucien took the bait. He reached out and grabbed the bag. Opening it up revealed a plain-looking muffin. "Huh. Not too bad." He looked back up with a smile. "Thanks, Pinkie. This is perfect." He slung his backpack off his shoulders and unzipped the front pocket. A small bag of bits sat waiting for him.

"How much?" he asked.

"Two bits will do!"

"Alright." He counted out the amount and set it on the counter in front of Pinkie. She grabbed the coins with her hoof and tossed them in the air. While they spun about, she pressed a button on the register and the slot of it popped out. The bits landed in it with a small clinging noise. "Thanks, Pinkie!"

"Okie doki loki! I'll see you around!" she called as he walked out the front door.

Lucien took a bite of the muffin as he walked through the town center. His teeth sunk into it like he was biting air, and the taste exploded on his tongue. It was a damn good muffin. If he had to guess, he'd say it was cream-cheese flavored. Interesting, but not at all off-putting. It was gone within a minute.

He booked it to Twilight's, not wanting to waste anymore time wandering about town.

Luckily, the Ponyville Library was a pretty big and unmistakable landmark, otherwise Lucien would have spent the whole day looking for the place. Even though he had been living there for a while, the layout of the village was still somewhat foreign to him. Even harder to navigate than Los Angeles, in his opinion.

He walked through the front door, feeling that it was the right thing to do while simultaneously feeling as if he was intruding. It's confusing when one lives in a library and also runs it.

"Hello? Twilight?" he called out to the otherwise silent tree. He heard the soft clopping of hooves on wood coming from upstairs almost immediately, followed by a lavender unicorn head pop up near the top of the stairs.

"Lucien! So good to see you!" she exclaimed, trotting down the stairs. "What can I do for you?" she asked on the way.

"First thing, take this." He summoned Harmony into his hands, and she flinched a bit at their sudden appearance. He gave her the chakram in his left hand and she grasped it a bit unsure. "Now, try to release your grip on it somewhat."

The weapon fell out of her hoof and a blade stuck in the floor. "Alright. Good. Experiment complete." He picked up the enchanted chakram and allowed it to revert back to Balance.

"What? That's it? What were you even testing for?" She looked a bit angry at him.

"Oh. Right, probably should have told you first." The blades reappeared in his hands with a flash of blue. "Well, when I use the chakrams, they tend to respond to what I want them to do." To prove his point, he released his grip on them and they rotated rapidly just barely above his hands. "See? No magic or anything." He lowered his arms down to her head level so she could see the space between his hands and the weapons.

She took a step back and looked at the deadly show in front of her with a look that spoke evenly of fear and curiosity. "I see. And it does make sense." Lucien dismissed Harmony. "Since you forged them, it would only make sense that you can use them correctly. It's keyed into your magic," she rationalized.

"Alright, I get it." He nodded rapidly. "Okay, there's just one more thing, and I think it's more suited to your tastes."

"What is it?"

"I need any information on fighting with chakrams and hammers. I've found books for swordplay, but the styles are for ponies. I figured that I'll need any information I can find if I want to use these effectively."

"Okay. I'll get to looking for something right away. Anything else?"

"Nope. That'll do for now. Thanks a lot, Twilight, and sorry for surprising you with the chakrams."

She shook her head. "It's fine. No harm done anyway. I'll see you later."

"See ya," he said while exiting the tree.

"So what is it you wanted, exactly?" asked the fashionista.

"Just some clothes that will keep me warmer when Winter comes. You know, a nice jacket and a thicker shirt. Along those lines," Lucien responded.

"I can do all that and more, dear. Now, come stand here, I need to take your measurements," Rarity said out loud. What she really meant was, "A new species and I'm the first one to design clothing for it! My business will be the envy of all!" She tried to keep her best poker face on regardless.

"Can you describe to me in a bit more detail what you want this to look like?" she asked while levitating a tape measure all around Lucien's body.

"Well... would it be easier if I just drew it?" he asked, hoping that she would allow it.

"You can draw it? Why of course! Why didn't you just ask about that in the first place!" She rushed off to get a quill and paper. "Here you go, dear."

Lucien immediately started marking the parchment with ink. Lines crossed over lines and created a pretty good example of a simple jacket. It would serve all-around instead of just for Winter. He handed the paper back to her just a minute after receiving it.

She eyed the sketch carefully, paying close attention to the minor intricacies. "Yes, I see. It looks very nice, if not exactly elegant. Are you sure that you don't want anything that would stand out a bit more?"

That's what he was afraid she would ask. "Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you possibly affix small emeralds to each button? I see that you have many precious gems lying about, and they're good for mana storage. "Not to mention that it would look completely badass if I had glowing gems on my jacket."

"That wouldn't be any trouble at all. Anything else?" she asked with a genuine smile.

"Actually, a flannel would be good to have around. Could you make one of those too?"

"Absolutely. Now, if you would be so kind as to draw out the design you'd prefer," she said while passing the paper and quill back to him.

He immediately added a flannel next to the sketches of the jacket. It would go with the colors of the coat itself, but he would be able to wear it alone. It was done in mere moments.

"My, you sure are quick with your... hands...?" he nodded his confirmation. "Where did you obtain such skills?" she asked as she took the drawings to a nearby workbench.

"I had a very..." he paused, searching for a fitting adjective, "active imagination when I was younger. I would always try to sketch out what was on my mind. Once I wasn't too terrible at it, I began to draw things from my home world. Places, items, people." "Monsters," he added in his mind.

"That sounds marvelous! You simply must tell me about it all sometime!" she trilled while getting to work. "But now I must fill your order and some of the others I missed while we were away. I apologize for having to cut our conversation short, but this will require all my attention and focus. Ta ta for now, dear, and don't be a stranger!" she spoke entirely with her back turned.

"Um, okay. Thanks, and goodbye, Rarity!" He waved a hand over his shoulder purely by instinct while he exited.

He walked home immediately from there and began to go to work on planning out his garden and greenhouse. Soon after that, he promised himself to sort through all the potions he made and deliver them all accordingly tomorrow. He would have a busy few weeks trying to take care of all the little things he had planned. Winter would be coming soon, he knew, but he didn't know quite what to expect with it.

Author's Notes:

Things have been set in motion. I have finally finished this boring-ass chapter. I'm ready to get the ball rolling once again with the introduction of "Story Arc #2: The Engineers."

Thanks for reading, everypony, because I'm sure that by the time I check this again, it will have surpassed 200 likes. As of this moment, it's at 198, and each update before this has gotten a few good likes.

I hope you will all like where this is headed, because I sure do, and it took me a hell of a lot of time to devise the events that will denote this arc.

---

Edited!

Chapter 15: Snowfall

Fresh snow fell in soft flurries from the clouded sky, leaving the ground covered in its powdered whiteness. It was quiet on the edge of the Everfree Forest. The silence only broken occasionally by the sounds of animals making their way through the trees. A rather large stone home sat near the treeline, completely covered in snow. A soft glow could be seen coming from certain places on the walls.

The lone inhabitant, Lucien LaChance, worked alone in his basement workshop. He toiled over the forge, hammering metals and mixing potions. This had been a constant for the past few days, only broken by his occasional visit to the greenhouse he had built in his backyard, or the mine that he had dug next to the greenhouse. Raw materials would always be needed by those who spend their days crafting, and Lucien was no exception.

As he worked, a song began to take root in his mind. It wasn't terribly perfect for what he was doing, but he would sing it nonetheless.

"Was a long and dark December, from the rooftops I remember, there was snow." He stopped to dunk the metal he was working with in a bucket of water. "White snow."

He walked over to the potion brewing stands he had in another section of the room. "Clearly I remember, from the windows they were watching, while we froze. Down below." With a quick flourish he plucked a potion from a stand and set it on a table amongst countless others.

"When the future's architectured by a carnival of idiots on show, you better lie low." He went back to the forge and pulled the now cooled sheet of metal out of the bucket. He set it down on a workbench and pulled out a tool for carving lines into metal.

"If you love me, won't you let me know?" The metal began to be decorated by lines and spirals, just how Lucien always did it.

"Was a long and dark December when the banks became Cathedrals, and the fog became God." The decorations were simple and done quickly on the small sheet of metal.

"Priests clutched onto bibles, hollowed out to fit their rifles and the cross, was held aloft. Bury me in armor, when I'm dead and hit the ground. My nerves are poles that unfroze." The metal was finished, and the next step was to attach it to the rest that he was working on.

"If you love me, why'd you let me go?" He brought over the other already done pieces of metal to the workbench. The final assembly was ready to be performed.

"I don't want to be a soldier, who the captain of some sinking ship would stow, far below." A small welding tool appeared in his hand. "So if you love me, why'd you let me go?"

The pieces were slowly and painstaking attached together in a way that would provide solid protection and not limit maneuverability. After a few minutes of welding, he was finished. He quickly conjured a long leather strap with a buckle and then fixed it on the back of the armor he had just made.

He sang the final part of the song while strapping the newly made iron armor to his right shoulder and partway down his right arm. The leather strap crossed around his arm and buckled down securely. "I took my love down to Violet Hill. There we sat in the snow. All that time she was silent still, said if you love me, won't you let me know? If you love me, won't you let me know?"

He took a step back from the workbench and picked up a nearby mallet. He smacked on his now armored right shoulder with a hard clang. Instead of feeling the pain of hitting himself with a hammer, he felt only a dull pushing sensation. Satisfied with his handiwork, he moved to go back to his forge and—

"That was a really nice song," said a voice from behind him.

He nearly jumped through the hard stone ceiling. Instead, he opted to turn and face his unexpected visitor, hands up and glowing in a mage's defensive position. Until he saw who it was, of course.

"No need to get all worked up, geez," said a winter saddled Twilight Sparkle as she rolled her eyes.

"Oh. Hey. Forgot where I was for a minute there," Lucien admitted. "Thought I was back home," he half mumbled. If Twilight heard him, she didn't say anything about it. "So what's up?"

"My friends and I are having a Hearth's Warming Eve celebration later this week. Want to come?" she asked.

"Hearth's Warming's Eve? Is that this world's version of Christmas?" he asked back.

"Uh, sure."

"Alright, count me in," he decided immediately.

"Great! I'll fill you in on the details when we get closer to the event! As for now," she paused to take a breath. "What's going on here? And here?" she gestured to the new metal decoration on Lucien's arm.

"Oh, this? Just a little something I made as a precaution. This world may look like Candyland compared to mine, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own share of threats. That hydra a few months ago, for instance." "And Bronze Gear," he added in his mind.

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "Alright, if you think it's necessary, I'm not going to argue." There was a bit of a lull in the conversation. It seemed like there was more she wanted to say. "Lucien . . ." she trailed off.

"Hmm?"

"If you don't mind me asking, who was that song about?"

"What?"

"'If you love me, why'd you let me go?'" she quoted. "Who are you singing about?"

Lucien waited a moment and read her expression. She was serious. Naturally, he burst out laughing. He tried to stop and regain his composure. But it broke again as soon as he saw how confused she looked. It took him a few minutes and several glances at Twilight's face to get him calmed once again. "No."

"No? You can laugh at something that sounds as serious as that?" she demanded, even more confused than before.

"No, no, you misunderstand. That's actually a not-so-popular song that I like from a band back home called Coldplay. I really like that song," he explained. "If only I had my iPod here," he added.

"Hmmph. I don't see why that isn't very popular. I think the lyrics are very deep," she stated, as if she was trying to prove a point to someone.

"You and me both, Twilight. You and me both." He started walking towards the exit of the basement. "So, is there anything I can do for you while you're here? Want a drink?" he offered.

"No, no drink, I just wanted to talk to you about something." The two entered the living room and moved to sit down on the wide couch.

"Alright then." He plopped down and a drink materialized in his hand, causing Twilight to jump slightly. He grinned at her. "I've been here for what? Three months? You still can't get used to my magic." He sipped from his can of Dr. Pepper. "I'm beginning to wonder if you'll ever get warmed up to me. And speaking of warm, is it too hot in here? You look a bit uncomfortable."

She began to remove her wintry saddle. "Yes, you could say it's a little warm in here."

"Okay, I'll turn it down." He got up and walked to a small panel on the wall. A short series of beeps could be heard, then the heat stopped flowing into the room. He sat down again, satisfied with his work.

"How did you do that?" Twilight asked, mystified.

"Oh, that? It's an air conditioning system I set up myself, completely operated by magic. Of course, I had to make room for air ducts in the ceiling and walls, but that only took a couple minutes. It helps when you can change your house around by sheer force of will," he answered smugly, proud of his work.

"Then what's the control panel for, if you operate it by magic?" she caught him slightly off-guard by the question.

He scratched the back of his head. "It isn't really necessary, I just put it there to make the place feel more like home." When she didn't respond, he continued. "Back on Earth, almost every home, whether standalone or apartment, had its own air conditioning system. They generally would be adjusted by control panels like this." He gestured to the small box on his wall. "Of course, all the ones back home were electronic and not magical, but that should be obvious." He sighed. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I got word back from Princess Celestia about the note we found in Bronze Gear's basement," she said immediately.

"Wow, going right for it, huh? No beating around the bush?" He made a vague punching motion with a fist, but the implications were lost on Twilight. He sighed again. "I guess there's no avoiding this, what did she say?"

"We weren't able to trace the note, but there have been some reports of strange activity and magical spikes in certain areas of Equestria. We - they - believe that Bronze and the author of the note have something to do with it," she explained.

"So? Were any concrete conclusions made? What areas of Equestria are these spikes happening on, and, most importantly, how do we factor into this? Because I know how important you and the rest of the girls are on this planet. Are you going to have to use the 'rainbow of horrible shiny self-reflection' on something?"

"They didn't make any 'concrete' conclusions, per-se. They just think that the note has something to do with the energy spikes. They couldn't pinpoint the exact locations, but they were able to mark out general areas. The mana stores in those areas had been growing stronger ever since your fight with Bronze, and they've had their eyes on them ever since. I believe that we'll have more exact locations as time goes on and more energy is gathered." She paused to take a breath. "The areas themselves are the most cause for concern. Do you have a map anywhere?"

"Uh, yeah, I think. Took one with me on my trip to the Badlands to gather a few potion ingredients. Let me go grab it for you." He sped upstairs to go retrieve his backpack, and returned a moment afterward, breathing slightly harder than before. He unzipped the top compartment and reached his whole arm through. After a few seconds of digging, he gave a short triumphant, "Aha!" and pulled out the map. It was rolled into a cylinder and was crinkled slightly.

He made an uppercutting motion with his free hand and a square block of stone rose up in front of the couch they were sitting on. He promptly unrolled and spread the map across the improvised table. He conjured a simple pen in his hand and offered it to Twilight, who grabbed it in a purple glow.

"This is the best I can draw, based off of the description given in the letter." The pen touched paper and began to draw very large circles over chunks of land. After making four decisive circles she stepped away and gave Lucien his pen back. "From what I read, these are the areas. Of course, we can't be completely sure what place they're referring to, seeing how three of those circles encompass multiple locations. Besides the one at the ruins in the Everfree, I'm pretty sure that's accurate." She pointed to the circle in question. "I already sent a letter back asking what they wanted us to do about it. I haven't heard back, but I'm going to check with Spike when I head home."

Lucien was silent, eyes scanning over the map. "Wouldn't the source of the energy spikes be at the exact center of the circles you drew? Since mana behaves in waves, can't we track the source by looking at the center?" he asked.

"Well, no. It was explained to me that the areas are equal in mana distribution, but they are narrowing and growing stronger as time goes on. You have to understand that sensing and pinpointing these things are extremely difficult—

"How long?" he cut her off.

"What?"

"How long until they can pinpoint the exact locations?"

". . . I'm not sure. She didn't tell me. But given how long it's took just to find these, I'd say months, at least." She went silent for a moment.

"What about these major cities?" he asked.

"What about them?"

"Wouldn't one of them be the source, considering how there are so many ponies living in each? And couldn't they just search the city and scan for the spikes methodically?"

"Good question, and no. The origin of the mana gathering can be any location inside those circles. There's no way to be exact at this time." She stopped and looked at the serious-faced Lucien.

"You aren't scared, are you?" she asked softly.

He took a deep breath and considered his feelings for a moment before responding. "I'm... worried." He laughed nervously.

"Good, because I am too." Twilight looked away.

Something small inside of Lucien melted, and he put a comforting arm over her back. "It's alright. I'm sure we'll be fine. I'm sure it's nothing to be concerned about," is what he said, but what he felt was something a lot more serious than concern. "A lot of energy would have to be gathered in one place to be noticed like this. And what of the Ruins in the Everfree? We're going to have to check it out."

"What?" asked Twilight.

"Oh." "Shit," he added in his thoughts. "Did I say that last part out loud?"

"Yes Lucien, yes you did. And you're right about it, we're going to have to go check it out." She sighed. "I suppose we are the closest weaponized force to that area. There isn't any way around it." She rubbed a hoof on her eyes and Lucien removed his arm. "The girls won't enjoy hearing this bit of news," she chuckled.

"You don't sound too excited about it yourself," Lucien observed.

"Well, to tell truth, I'm not. I trust the Princess implicitly, it's just . . ."

"Just what?" he prompted.

"I'm not sure I like the idea of just being a weapon." She threw her hooves out in exasperation. "I know that sounds horrible, accusing Princess Celestia of using us like I think she is, but I'm starting to believe it's true." She crossed her hooves over her chest and sat back into the couch. "I've always believed in the Princess. Always. Since my very first day in her school, she's never let me down, and I've never questioned her actions, but now... Now I don't know what to think." She began to sniffle.

"I don't think that she is necessarily using you like that," he said.

"No?"

"No. But I also don't think she isn't using you."

"...Now you've lost me."

"Think of it this way. The six of you are a sword, and Celestia needs a sword to defend Equestria. She's not just going to let Equestria be razed by these superpowers. She's going to pick up the sword and fight back. It's just a gross coincidence that the sword happens to be formed out of living beings, you guys. There's no way around it, and there's no easy way to put it. She needs you six to be on the front lines, pacifying whatever evil threatens Equestria." He took a breath. "Just like you all defeated Nightmare Moon, and Discord, and even me!" He put his hands to his chest in a wild gesture.

She was silent for a few moments, and Lucien was afraid he had said something wrong. "Yeah." She said finally. "You're right. We are needed around here, but we aren't a simple tool. She has to know that."

"My point, exactly."

"And of course we couldn't let you take down Equestria. The ponies around here wouldn't like that at all," she jested.

He raised his hands in mock offence. "What do you mean? I'm a likable guy! They would've been fine with it!" They both laughed over the thought of it before calming down a minute or two afterward.

"By the way, how did you know about Nightmare Moon and Discord?"

"I read up on my history while I was holed up in here. Stopped by the library a few times, remember. You must've been out while I checked out one of the more recently published history books there." He smiled.

"Well it's nice to see someone taking interest in our fascinating history as a country," she said.

"Yeah, some pretty interesting stuff happened in the past," he said, reminiscing on his own planet's long history.

They both sat there on Lucien's couch for some time, talking with each other on some of the events that had gone by in the town while Lucien was busy being a shut-in. In response, Lucien told Twilight all about how busy he had been crafting heaters, a greenhouse, a Winter garden, and his armor forging. By the time she left, both had more than enough information on what the other was up to while they didn't see each other, and Twilight had the crafting recipe for both the heat potions and the heaters.

No plans were made for what to do about the energy spikes. Lucien took the map and pinned it to a wall in his study, but nothing else was done. He left it to the Princess to make the plans and he would just go along with it. For once, he wouldn't be in charge of what to do next.

And he was okay with that.

Author's Notes:

You know what?

This story has hit 200 likes. And I don't know how. I didn't even have a plan for a story when I began this. It was just a random whatever that a few people took notice of.

And I was okay with that.

And now it's garnered quite some attention.

And I'm okay with that.

Well, I'm more than okay with that, but for our purposes in this A/N, that's what I'll say. Let's continue.

The story had no direction, I take forever to post chapters, I don't have an editor to catch the mistakes (I feel like there aren't that many anyway), and I can't believe how this has transformed. I went from no direction and a not-very-well-thought-out main character to a plot-driven story with a developed main character. My writing's progressed far further than what I expected starting this.

And I'm okay with that.

So I just want to take a moment here to say thank you. Thank you for giving this a chance. Thank you for getting me this far in only 17 chapters, none of which are extremely long. My expectations have been shattered by you guys, and I'll never be able to adequately describe how grateful I am. Hopefully this chapter, and the many to follow, will give you an idea.

And I hope you're okay with that.

---

Edited!

Chapter 16: Crossed Over

The group of seven trudged through the snow. Hooffalls and footfalls marking their path through the otherwise unblemished carpet of white. They were walking through the Everfree, and all was silent. Every living animal was hibernating in its own hovel buried somewhere, not awake to disturb the travelers. And the travelers weren't about to disturb the animals either—

"Lucien, can you stop narrating what's going on and focus on being silent?" chastised Twilight.

"Oh, right. Sorry. Couldn't help myself. How much farther?"

"Not too far, I don't think. Marvin's river was just back there, and we passed the Manticore's hunting grounds a while back. We just need to get over the chasm before we can get inside the Ruins."

"Cool. So how are we going to get across the chasm?"

"There's a bridge. It was there the first time we were here, so it should probably still be here."

The group walked for a few more minutes before emerging finally through a thicket of trees. Lucien was the first out, followed by the rest of the girls in a pack. Lucien kept walking, but the rest of them gave a short gasp and stopped dead in their tracks. After realizing he was alone, Lucien stopped too and turned around to look at them. "What gives, why'd you stop? We need to get over there, we've wasted enough time as it is."

Applejack was the first to recover. "Look behind ya, sugarcube."

"What is it?" he turned quickly, prepared for the worst. What he saw, he wasn't prepared for. He had stopped by four wooden posts stuck up in the ground, each supporting a rope that was also tied into the ground. "I don't see what the matter is."

"Look a little closer." Rainbow Dash said, pointing with a hoof.

"Fine but I don't get—" He took a closer look at the ropes and noticed that the ones in the middle seemed to lead directly into the ground, not just tied to a stake in it. "Oh."

The group moved closer to get a better look. There was a slight uneven crease over the ground where he stood. "There isn't a chasm anymore. It's been sealed up," Twilight said with a note of amazement. "How can something have powerful enough terraforming powers so as to close this gap in the earth?"

Lucien's mind was racing as all of the ponies looked directly at him. "Even I couldn't accomplish this. At least not without sacrificing something first." No, something else had to have done that. Lucien racked his mind, trying to rush to the conclusion quickly. An idea popped into his mind. One that scared the hell out of him. "Oh no. No, no, no. It can't be."

"Can't be what?" Rainbow demanded.

"Get back, everyone get back!" Lucien yelled as the ground rumbled beneath him.

"What? Why? What is it?!" Twilight said as Fluttershy panicked. Pinkie and Twilight seemed worried while Dash and Applejack looked ready for a fight.

"You don't understand and there isn't enough time to explain! Get back to the treeline, all of you!" He put his hands behind his head and started to pace back and forth. None of the ponies moved an inch, but most of them looked ready to take his advice. "Why are you still standing here? GO!" he commanded, while unsheathing his sword.

"Stay safe!" Twilight shouted while running for cover with her friends.

He only had moments before the beast was upon him. He figured he would use them to give a brief explanation. "IT'S A TERRAMORPHUS!" he screamed to them before dropping into a fighting stance. He channeled energy into the ground around him and forced the entire clearing high up into the air. The earth shook from the force, and he ran to the other end of the platform to spot his aggressor.

Right on cue, the giant beast burst out of the dirt and rock further down on their battleground. Chunks of stone crumbled away as the monster snaked its way up the cylindrical platform. Lucien turned to face where he predicted it would it appear. Naturally, the monster launched up from the ground below, near the edge closest to the ponies Lucien was trying to protect. He could almost sense their gasps.

"A Terramorphus." He gazed at the tentacled beast before him, trying to come up with a plan of attack.

But of course, the monster wouldn't allow that to happen. A tentacle shot up out of the ground to its right, holding a boulder. It threw and Lucien had moments to react.

Instead of grabbing the rock, he raised a hand and used his magic to deflect it off to the side. The effort of carrying something that large, even magically, left him breathing harder than before. He wasn't going to let this carry on too long. He sheathed his sword. It wouldn't be necessary.

The beast roared at Lucien. Lucien didn't roar back.

Not one to waste time, he quickly fired a large charge of fiery mana into the beast's mouth. It burned its path through the air and stopped abruptly as the monster closed its mouth over it. "This won't work."

He assessed his options while the Terramorphus digested its latest meal. "I need to minimize collateral damage. They can't be harmed by this thing . . ." He glanced over at the ponies huddled in the trees. The monster couldn't go over there. Lucien wouldn't allow it.

A decision was reached quickly. It wouldn't be the prettiest of outcomes, but it would remove the threat before him and make sure it wouldn't come back anytime soon.

He slid his left foot forward and to the left, causing his feet to be aligned diagonally. His hands curved upward in loose fists, fingers pointed upward. He concentrated on the earth below his feet. Slowly, the platform rotated around, causing his back to face his friends in the trees below.

Once it stopped, the Terramorphus roared at him once again and raised a tentacle to smash him. Thinking with only his senses and not his mind, Lucien simply turned his body to the right and pivoted his back foot. The tentacle missed entirely, The only damage to Lucien being a few stinging pebbles thrown by the force of the attack's impact.

He returned back to his previous position and readied himself for an attack. He built up his mana quickly and swung his left hand in a slightly open fist. The earth to his left responded with its movement. A reverse rockslide built itself up towards the Terramorphus. It ended with three cylindrical stalagmites jutting out to the side. These stalagmites just happened to be rushing directly at the Terramorphus' head.

It groaned in agony, but the sharpened rocks didn't do more than give it a slight concussion. The thing's skull was probably five feet thick. It recoiled back and almost fell off the platform, but managed to hang on by the tentacles latched inside of the ground in front of it.

Three of those tentacles swept through the air towards him, but Lucien was gone from where he was once standing. He had disappeared inside the ground. The Terramorphus growled in confusion.

And then Lucien popped out of the ground and landed square on his feet in the middle of the platform. He put his hands on the ground and poured his effort into what he would do next. The Terramorphus roared with triumph, thinking it had won because Lucien was giving up. It reared its head back to go for the kill.

His energy was focused. Lucien's head snapped up to look directly at the monster before him. His eyes were glowing green with the mana barely contained inside him. He released the pent-up energy.

Its effects were immediate. The ground rumbled and shook. A fissure line ran around the circumference of the platform's outside, forming directly at the Terramorphus' waistline, or whatever you would call the middle of a ferocious beast of myth.

Lucien roared and threw back his head and arms, arching his back almost unnaturally. The ground shook faster, and the rumbling of rocks grew louder. Then, faster than any rock should ever move, the upper part of the fissure line spun a full 360 degree rotation.

The Terramorphus' upper half traveled around in the full circle. Its lower half didn't.

A shocked look, if a Terramorphus could feel complicated emotions, rippled across its disgusting features. Then, just like that, it slumped over. Dead.

Lucien fell to his knees, utterly exhausted. His last shred of energy was spent forming a spiral staircase so the girls could go help him. He fell forward and rolled over onto his back into the snow just as he heard hooves clattering on rocks. His eyes closed.

"Lucien! Are you— oh my Celestia." It was Twilight, and judging by the sound of her voice, she had seen the mass of dead Terramorphus lying across from Lucien. The hooves flew across the grass and stopped around him.

"Hey Lucien . . . you alright?" asked a tomboyish voice.

He coughed. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired, is all. It's nothing."

"Are ya sure you're alright? That's a mighty big fella' ya just took down there," asked a concerned-sounding Southern accented voice.

"Yes, I'm alright," he weakly waved a hand in the voice's general direction. "Don't worry your pretty little head. I just need a minute to relax. I'll be up in a few seconds."

A reluctant "okay," could be heard from that pony, followed by the sounds of the other ponies walking towards the remains of the Terramorphus.

"Oh . . . my . . . gosh . . ." A soft voice whispered from close by Lucien's prone form.

He snapped up. "Is it getting back up?!" he shouted, looking for the pony that had spoken.

"No . . . It's just . . . Horrible . . ." whispered a trembling Fluttershy.

Lucien looked up to see the wreckage he had caused. It caused even him to gasp. The Terramorphus had fallen over at some point, and was now on its side, purple blood covering the grass all around it. "Yikes." There was an indentation in the ground where it once was grounded, and the tentacles were all limp in their positions. Just inside the indentation he could see the rocks were all painted purple, and the lower half of the Terramorphus was slightly visible.

The ponies were in various positions looking over the carcass, all of them sharing the same feature, disgust. Twilight was poking its face and studying it intently. Rainbow Dash hovered over its head, observing all the frills on it. Fluttershy was nudging one of the tentacles on the side and avoiding the general sight of blood. Applejack was peering down into the hole, and Rarity was trying to keep Fluttershy calm.

Lucien slowly got to his feet, his body screaming at him to lay back down. He stumbled slowly to the center of the amassed ponies, ready to answer any questions and give explanations. "Alright. I know you all have questions. So shoot," he said.

Fluttershy was the first to ask. "Are you injured?" she asked.

"A sensible question. No. I'm not," he answered. "It didn't even touch me. I wasn't going to let this battle rage on any longer than necessary."

"What was that thing?" asked Dash.

"A Terramorphus," he responded, slowly gauging the shocked and confused looks on each of their faces. "Let me explain. A Terramorphus is a terraforming monster that tunnels through the earth. The tentacles do most of the attacking. It's main power is the ability to, well, terraform the land beneath and around it. I guess it's what closed the fissure." The confusion gave way to stunned gaping mouths.

"It's strong enough to do something as difficult as that?" asked Rarity.

Lucien laughed weakly. "You have no idea. This one right here," he nudged a nearby tentacle with his foot, "is around its teenage years, I would say." The ensemble gasped. "The adult ones are known to open fissure lines that run for miles, create mountains, and build volcanoes."

"How do you know so much about them?" asked Twilight, already expecting his answer.

"It's from my world." He shrugged. She closed her eyes to think for a moment, and Lucien immediately realized his mistake. "Now, I have no idea how it got here. I certainly didn't bring it with me! This thing is just as much a danger to me as it is to everyone else!" he exclaimed before she could form any bad ideas.

"You killed it . . ." whispered a stone-faced Fluttershy.

"Yes, I did what I had to d—"

"You killed it!" she shouted, much to the surprise of her friends.

"Wha—"

"There could've been another way! There had to be some way you could pacify it without ripping it apart like you did!" she screamed. "You could've used a sleep spell, or sent it away, or, or, something other than this!"

Lucien winced, and not because of her suddenly loud voice. "Look, Fluttershy . . ." he took a deep breath as he noticed her tearing eyes. "There wasn't any other way. That thing only knows killing. It's not some innocent animal, it's a beast, a monster. It exists only to put an end to our existence." He leaned forward to put a hand on her shoulder, and she jolted back, eyes flicking between his hand and his eyes. Her face personified the word "distrust."

Lucien withdrew his hand and his eyes met the ground. "Fluttershy. I'm not it. I'm not that thing, over there!" He pointed an accusing finger at the carcass behind her. "That monster had no mind! No conscience! It's not like your other animals, it's not like me!" He stopped for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It was going to kill me and then the rest of you. I wasn't going to stand here and let that happen."

She looked down. She seemed conflicted and not ready to talk again.

"Anypony else?! Any more questions you'd like to ask me?!" he shouted at them. Every set of pony eyes was at the ground currently. Lucien wasn't happy, but he was somewhat satisfied by their silence. "Now listen here. I'm very tired now, but there's one more thing that I need to do here, and I don't think you want to be around here for it. Unless, of course, you'd enjoy seeing me tearing this-" he faltered, "this thing apart to make sure it's dead?! No?! Great! The stairs are right over there, I'll be down in a minute."

Six ponies filed away silently. Hooves clattered on rocks and Lucien didn't move until the sound stopped. He reached a hand out to the side and curled it into a fist. The staircase closed in on itself. He had one more thing to do, and it wouldn't be pretty.

He got to his feet and looked at the monster in pity. "Rule number 2: Double Tap." He dropped his right leg forward and pushed outward with his hands. A slice of earth slid out, allowing the Terramorphus' head to fall in the newly created gap. He grimaced and conjured a hard mana shield in a bubble around him. Then, he closed his fists and brought them back to his chest.

The gap closed with a cracking noise and more than a few squishes. Purple blood and certain other things flew everywhere, causing Lucien to wince. The shield didn't let any through and he closed it with a hand moving in an arc over his head and to the front, like he was closing a skylight.

He didn't have much pride in what he had just done. In fact, it was almost the opposite. He had slain things like that for just about his whole life, and for the first time, he doubted himself. He wondered if there truly was another solution. He couldn't decide just then, but he had the rest of the walk to the ruins to decide.

He lowered himself down on a chunk of earth in the side of the platform and joined the group in silence. They all continued their plodding through the snow, this time without a cheery air.

Before long they reached the ruins in the forest. The entire place was covered in snow, and while the sight was beautiful, nobody ventured to comment on it. All seven minds were still thinking about what happened before. Lucien's sudden outburst seemed to be in such contrast to his otherwise easy-rolling character.

The difference was visible, even. Upon looking at his movements, one could notice his shoulders hunched over more and his steps were more measured, quiet, even. Like he was ready to drop into stealth at any moment. His brows were furrowed and he wore a tight grimace. His eyes had lost their sparkle, instead settling for narrowed pupils and duller colors. They flitted back and forth across the landscape with every noise that didn't originate from their group. Encountering the Terramorphus hadn't harmed him physically, but mentally.

The party of seven wandered towards the center of the castle without incident. The ponies smiled as they remembered defeating Nightmare Moon and releasing Luna. Lucien, however, was scanning every corridor and room, making sure there were no traps. Each new corner, after all, could hold some sort of nasty surprise for any who try to plunder the riches of the ruins.

"There's no need to worry, Lucien. There ain't no traps here. We came through here about a year ago and nuthin' went wrong," Applejack said.

"Oh, alright." He relaxed, but only slightly.

Soon enough they reached the throne room. Snowfall was dotted in certain spots where the ceiling was missing, forming a checkerboard of sorts on the stone floor. But that sight was not what held their gaze, or was what ripped a gasp out of their mouths.

Sitting where the Elements once sat dormant, was a creature unlike any they, besides Lucien, had ever seen. Its face was hidden behind a sharply pointed hood, the darkness concealing its features. It was cloaked in a stitched brown cloak with shreds of the garment hanging down on the fringes. Its feet were wrapped in straps of leather and feathers hung out the ends of its sleeves. Two long and very sharp blades stuck out of those sleeves, one machete and one unbent hook. It was frightening to say the least.

The color drained from Lucien's face as he looked upon the creature.

"Lucien? What is that?" asked a curious and scared Rarity.

"Shh, shh. It hasn't noticed us yet," he whispered. "I want you all to back up very slowly and move into the hallway."

"But what about you?" Pinkie asked.

He looked at her from over his shoulder. "I'm coming too. No way in hell I'm fighting this thing without some form of strategy."

They carefully tip-toed backwards into the corridor they came in from.

"Lucien, what is that," demanded a frightened Twilight.

He took a deep breath. "That, girls, is a Revenant." A dangerous enemy, to say the least. Those blades are spectacularly lethal," he explained.

"What are we going to do about it?" she asked back.

"I'll tell you what, we're gonna go in there and kick its flank! Right, Lucien?" asked a bravado-filled Rainbow. "We can take that punk!" She flew up and boxed the air until Lucien yanked her down by her tail. "Ow! What gives?!"

"This is not something to be taken lightly!" hissed Lucien. Rainbow flinched backward from his suddenly abrasive attitude. "That thing in there needs to be taken care of swiftly and efficiently. There can be no room for error, or else it will kill all of us. That's something I won't let happen."

"O-okay," the mare stammered, her previous attitude all but gone.

"What do you know about it?" asked Twilight. "And are you sure we'll be safe in here?"

"I know a lot about it, and yes, it won't be able to hear us all the way out here. It's eyesight is terrible, but its hearing is incredibly acute. Let me grab something for you." He swung his backpack around his shoulder and unzipped the top compartment. His notebook was pulled out almost immediately. He opened it up and searched for an entry quickly. The pages turned back and forth for a moment, and then he located the correct sheet. "These are the notes from the books, and my," he shuddered visibly , "experiences with it."

"'The Revenant is formed from the restless fragments of those who, in life, did great evil. Devious and clever, the Revenants serve no master, no greater plan or intelligent design. All they crave is misery, pestilence, agony and death. They feed on terror and pain, and their presence is always an omen of impending doom.'" He gulped. "'The Revanent can leap huge distances, crawl upside down at great speeds, and squeeze themselves through the narrowest of spaces. Drawn to areas where a disaster, natural or manmade, is imminent, Revenants have been instrumental in spreading pest and plague throughout history; from the bubonic plague and smallpox in Europe, to flu and typhus pandemics across Asia. In 1905, they arrived in the United States, carried across the ocean aboard freighter ships, hiding among the rats and crows in the cargo.

"'Revenants typically use poison and disease as weapons against the innocent, and their weapons - often twin knives - can cause hideous infections in those without protection against dark magic.' That's where the book notes end. Here's mine. 'The Revenant uses a swift attack pattern and will often jump to the walls and ceilings without warning. Cast Light Shield (see page 243) as a precaution against poison/dark magic. Light spells most effective in combat. If discovered, cast a wide-radius Light Circle spell to continually damage/weaken it, then attack directly with PureBolts. Do not attempt forward approach. Flank after casting Muffle for a stealth attack to destroy it immediately.' Those are my notes. They work pretty well." Attached to the page was a yellow sticky-note with "TIMES KILLED" at the top, followed by tally marks adding up to six. He counted himself lucky to get through that many fights. He shoved the notebook back into his pack and swung it over to its regular position.

"So here's what's going to happen," he paused for a moment. "Can someone get me a rock?" He held out his hand, and a stone was hoofed to him by Pinkie almost instantly. "Thank you. Now, what's going to happen is, I go in there from the roof and deal with the Revenant, while you all stay back and don't get hurt. Got that? I know how to handle these things without incident, so you will all stay here and be silent. If I'm not back in two minutes, send someone up to the roof to kick my scared ass down there, alright?" he offered a weak smile and it raised their spirits somewhat.

"Understood. Just don't get yourself killed. We still need you." Twilight smiled and rested a lavender hoof on his arm while her friends echoed her wishes.

"Great, here we go." He walked over to a hole in the wall and climbed up to the roof. The frigid air cut straight through his jacket and he wrapped it more closely around his body. "Damn it's a lot colder up here!" he cursed. He trudged through the thick snow and watched carefully for any holes in he might step in.

After a few well-thought-out steps, he reached a larger hole in the roof. He knelt and peered down the gap. Snow had fallen through and he could see it in a pile on the ground below. "Perfect," he thought, "An entrance."

He stood up and brushed the white powder off his jeans. In his hand appeared a small blue ball of mana. He raised the hand up and released the spell. Cyan light swirled all around him and a faint glow of the same hue surrounded his boots. All of his movements were now muffled.

The blue quickly shifted to gold and he repeated the action. A golden glow encompassed his body, protecting him from poison and pestilence. After that, he gathered up mana in his hand, preparing the PureBolts spell before his entrance. There would be no room for error, and he wasn't going to make a mistake.

"Here goes everything." He jumped into the hole and landed soundlessly in the pile of snow. His head peeked out cautiously to see if the Revenant had noticed his entrance. It still sat there undisturbed.

Lucien still had the rock from before. Not wanting to waste any time, he threw it at the wall just behind and to the left of the Revenant. As expected, the stone emitted a loud crack that echoes across the room. The Revenant spun around and hissed, pouncing on the rock as it was clattering to the floor, its back facing the pile of snow that the rock originated from.

He wouldn't get another chance like that. Lucien walked out of the snowdrift soundlessly and brought both his gold-glowing hands together, effectively overcharging the already critical spell. Without wasting another second, bolts of pure light arced out from the small yellow ball in his hands and struck the creature in the back.

It writhed in agony for a few short seconds before falling to inky black shards. Lucien ran over to the remains and cast the Light Circle spell in a small radius on top of them. They dissolved into the ground and left behind a single black feather. Lucien picked it up and twirled it around in his fingers, examining the loot from the unfair fight. That is, until his friends came running, and flying, in.

"That was amazing! You totally toasted that thing!" cheered Rainbow.

"Well done, Lucien, ya don't cease ta amaze," Applejack smiled warmly.

"Very impressive handling of that situation, Lucien. A clever ploy to use the rock as a distraction," remarked Twilight.

"That was great," whispered Fluttershy.

"I'm so thankful we don't have to deal with that beastly creature. Thank you Lucien," Rarity said.

"Hey, whatcha get? Can I see it?" Pinkie bounced up and down trying to get a better look at Lucien's loot.

"Just a feather. Pretty cool, if you ask me, but I've gotten better," said a more-than-relieved Lucien. "I'm just glad nothing went wrong." He waited for a moment expectantly, spinning around to glare at the now fading Light Circle. He blinked. "Oh, wow, I guess it really is done. I completely expected it to reform or something just now." He shrugged. "Not too shabby," he grinned.

But something else caught his eye, behind the destroyed throne. A bronze glint was being reflected off the dying light of his spell. "What the . . ." he trailed off as he walked over to investigate. As he approached it, the object seemed to be larger and larger. Four big sheets of metal surrounded something in the center.

He rounded the dilapidated chair and took a look at the whole thing. It was a massive Tesla coil, surrounded on four sides by the metal he noticed earlier. The construct was tilted on its side, smashed into the ground. The lower part resembled a bomb, and it looked familiar overall . . .

The realization struck right through him like a cold blade. Before he knew it, a large boulder from somewhere was hovering over the accursed machine. Without so much as a second though, the rock dropped and smashed it, the sound of screeching metal accompanying the action.

The ponies were by his side immediately, checking to see if he was alright and to see the wreckage. The boulder was raised from its position over the device for the rest of them to see. It was the EMP device Bronze Gear used to neutralize their magic. Stunned silence flooded the room.

"Get Celestia now and tell her we found her bomb."

Author's Notes:

Shit's going down! Monsters from Lucien's world are appearing in Equestria, one of Bronze Gear's devices has mysteriously reappeared, and the mystery of the magic spikes has deepened.

But what happened to the rest of Bronze's inventions and blueprints? How does Sandcroft's note fit into this? When will I stop asking questions and post the next damn chapter?

Find out next time!

Short: Counting Stars

Applejack awoke to a soft green light pressing on her eyelids. It shone gently through the blinds of her window and painted the walls in its muted color. The mare groaned gently in her sleep, used to waking up early, but not that early. Reluctantly, she rolled over and opened her eyes to stare at her wall.

Upon noticing the odd color shining upon it, she turned around to check out the window. The light was a bit too bright to make out through the slits in her blinds, so she shook off the bed-covers and stood up swiftly. She reached a hoof up to pull down the slats and check what was the matter.

Off in the distance, perched atop a snow-covered hill, was a sphere of lightly glowing green energy. Curious to see what it was that was in her orchard, the mare quickly grabbed her Stetson and fixed it on her head. She quietly opened the door to her room and crept downstairs, not wishing to wake up either sibling or Granny Smith. It took time, but she eventually reached the front door of the house.

Letting out a pent-up breath she didn't realize she had taken, her hoof turned the knob and she walked out into the cool winter air. She then proceeded to turn around and walk right back inside. A minute or so later, she re-emerged wearing much warmer clothing. Afterward she began to trudge through the snow to reach the glow in the distance.

Minutes passed and thoughts raced through her mind, most concerned with what she would find at the source of the odd light. It was magical, of that she was certain. Her largest suspicion was that Twilight was out experimenting with a new astronomy spell or something of the like. What it really was, as she saw when she climbed the hill, surprised her.

The glow originated from a dome, about fifteen feet in diameter, nestled in an open area below the stars. The branches and trees of the orchard just happened to part enough to allow the person sitting in the dome an excellent view of the sky. Applejack looked at the ground inside the barrier and was surprised to see that it wasn't covered in white powder like the rest of the area. In fact, the snowflakes falling down disintegrated upon impact with the transparent surface of the dome.

Lucien looked down from the sky and noticed her immediately. He give her a half-smile and patted the ground next to him in an inviting way. The mare, after a brief moment's hesitation, walked through the barrier, wincing a bit as she did so. She gasped, the air inside the dome was at least forty-five degrees warmer than it was outside. She removed some of her winter gear immediately.

When she was done, Lucien just smiled and laughed silently at the mare's reaction. Applejack took her seat next to him in a playful huff. She swung her head to the side in a dramatic swish, patting him on the side of his head with her ponytail. The two chuckled at their antics for a moment, then silence filled the area once more.

Lucien nudged her with his elbow, then when he had her attention, pointed up to the sky. She looked up to gaze at the stars that populate the night sky. Stars that she grew up under. She sat and looked up in ceaseless wonder, the sight never failed to amaze her.

"That's one thing that I love," came a voice to her side, snapping her out of her reverie. She looked down to see that Lucien was now lying on his back, hands clasped behind his head.

"What?"

"The stars."

The two broke eye contact and looked upward once again. The orbs of light shone bright against the otherwise black canvas that formed the sky. It was reassuring to know that they were always there watching over her. Her thoughts were broken once again when the human let out a tired sigh.

"No matter where I go, whatever universe, reality, or planet, the stars are always the same. A constant in my constantly-changing life," Lucien said sadly.

"Ah feel just about the same way," Applejack responded.

He looked at her with a funny smile. "I'm sure that we're not that close on that aspect, but let's go with it. What is it about your life that is constantly changing, hmm?"

Applejack looked down and removed her hat from her head. "It's true that Ah do live by a very strict schedule, but that doesn't mean that Ah don't know change when Ah see it. Granny Smith is gettin' older, Applebloom is growin' up," she fiddled with her hat a bit, "Ah'm not sure what comes next. One day it's this and the next day it's that; Ah-Ah just don't know what to expect sometimes." She put her hat back on her head tentatively.

Lucien nodded and a pensive look took hold over his face. After a few minutes of stargazing shared between the two of them, he spoke again. "How old do you think I am?" he asked.

She was caught off-guard by the question. "What?"

"How old do you think I am?" he repeated.

She thought for a good moment, summing up all his experiences with him so far. "From what Ah've seen, Ah'd say you're about twenty-five, in pony years, of course."

"Twenty-five years, huh?"

"Yup." There was a lull in the conversation when Lucien didn't respond immediately. "How old are you really?"

"Fifty-two," he said at last.

She was shocked. She couldn't imagine someone who acted so happy and colorful and light-spirited could be so old. Not to add the fact that his hair wasn't graying in the slightest, which she assumed happened to humans too. "Fifty-two?!" she exclaimed, "How is that possible?!

He sat up and crossed his legs and faced her. "Magicians live for a long time. A very long time. I look and act so young because I truly do feel that young. And, in a way, I really am." Sadness crept into his features, though a small smile attempted to cover it up. "I've had a long life so far, one that, to me, seems satisfying. I've all but mastered several forms of magic and I've evaded death so many times it's like a game now. In fact, it's the easiest way for me to feel something. That rush of adrenaline that comes along with those situations is... intoxicating." He paused, carefully searching Applejack's face to make sure she didn't misunderstand. "Now, don't get me wrong, I don't go out and search for danger, it just has a way of finding me no matter where I am. It is my life, and I've accepted that.

"Everything that kills me, makes me feel alive." He held out his hands and channeled mana into them. In response, the dome they were under lit up a bit brighter. "At first, when I started out, it was terrible. My life was a constant flow of fight-or-flight. Creatures that belonged in nightmares were breaking down the doors of my house." His gaze dropped to the grass. "That was the worst. The banging on the door in the middle of the night. I was about thirty when that was the brunt of my worries. Which, by my calculations, puts me in my teens in human years.

"After time, it became a constant in my life, the knocking of the door, the clicks and groans that echoed throughout the forests and abandoned towns I explored. It became comforting to me." He made a bitter, mocking laugh. "How twisted is that? My life got reduced to such fear for so long I actually began to like it!"

"Lucien, Ah'm not sure Ah'm comfortable hearing this." Applejack snapped him out of his thoughts. She had stood up and looked ready to flee from the dome they were under.

"Oh, oh," his eyes gained some focus and he looked back at the mare. "Sorry about that, it happens sometimes. Call it a side-effect, if you will." He kept careful track of the fear present in Applejack's eyes. "My life was a cacophony of change. One day Venice, the next, Greece, after that, London. Locations, monsters, faces, it didn't matter. Each new place was entirely different from the last. I lived a nomadic life.

"But, do you want to know what my only comfort was?" he asked.

"Ah do," the slightly calmer mare replied.

"There was one constant in all my travels. Something that was always present and always gave me reassurance that, no matter where I was, I would always be able to find home."

"What was it?" asked the intrigued mare.

"The stars."

Author's Notes:

This chapter is canon, yeah. Happens sometime between Hearth's Warming and the previous chapter.

So, a short. Got some bonding between these two, sort of like a continuation of what I did when Lucien got his housewarming party. I dunno.

Chapter 17: Invaded

The group rushed home quickly, forsaking caution for speed. Lucien doubted they stopped sprinting even once. Every so often on the run back, his ears would pick up some foreign presence off in the brush, but they were past it before anything bad could happen.

They were back on the outskirts of the Everfree before they knew it, each pony and person panting hard and sweating harder, despite the snow and cold weather. They passed by Lucien's empty house and soon enough the village of Ponyville came into view. However, as they approached, they began to notice that something was amiss. The normally bustling streets were empty of ponies.

Lucien froze immediately, and held out a hand to signal the rest to stop. Deserted towns were something he had encountered frequently in his travels, and it always signaled trouble. They pulled over to the side of a nearby building on Main Street and crouched low in the snow.

"Okay, we need to find what's wrong and fix it. Quickly." He glanced around the corner to look at the still-empty street. "Does anypony know who lives in the house we're hiding behind?" he looked at the gathered ponies expectantly.

Immediately, Pinkie raised a hoof in the air. "I do! This is Bottom Line's house! He's been here forever! One of Ponyville's oldest residents!" she chirped.

"Great. We need to go have a little chat with him," he proposed.

"So let's go on and knock on the door, c'mon." Rainbow Dash boldly began to walk around the corner before Lucien stopped her.

"No. We need to be more cautious. I don't know what's out there that's making these ponies stay indoors, but I don't like it one bit. We're going in a different way," he said.

"How, then? The chimney?" asked Twilight sarcastically.

"Oh I hope not. I'd hate for this winter gear to be smudged with soot," complained Rarity.

Lucien face-palmed. "No. We're going in the back door."

"Oh thank heavens!" Rarity said as he walked by her.

He walked around the other side of the house and hopped over a white picket fence. He tried the door and found it locked. His eyes widened in surprise. "Wow. A locked door. I'm honestly stunned that someone around here actually has the sense to do that."

"Well there is such a thing as crime, you know." Twilight deadpanned.

"Shush you." Lucien put his palm against the lock and probed at it with his magic. In seconds he had located the tumbler and lifted the pins. The door unlocked itself with a soft click. He opened it slowly, peeking his head around the corner to check for danger. It opened to a dark hallway stretching back into the house, the back of a staircase on the left. He crept inside slowly, holding the door open to let the rest of the ponies inside.

Once they were all gathered inside, Lucien closed the door softly and locked it once again. Afterward, he straightened up out of his slight crouching position. "Alright. I think we're safe now."

Just after the words left his mouth, the handle of an umbrella appeared directly behind him and clocked him in the back of his head, causing him to fall forward into a roll. "Take that ya repulsive creature! Leave these poor ponies alon—hey!" The umbrella was enveloped in a purple glow and ripped from the pony's grasp.

"What was that for!?" screamed a furious Twilight Sparkle.

"It kidnapped you folks didn't it?" asked the graying pony, eyeing them carefully.

"No! He brought us here in an effort to protect us!" She turned around to check on the injured human. "Lucien, are you—" he was gone. Her pupils dilated. "What. Where?"

"Up here," answered a voice from (you guessed it) above their heads. Lucien was on the ceiling of the house. Sitting down cross-legged and looking at the assortment of multi-colored horses.

Rainbow Dash flew up next to him. "Uh, dude. How are you doing that?" She poked at his leg to see if it would cause him to fall. It didn't, and he swatted her hoof away.

"Complex series of fail-safe Gravity Spells, it would take way too long to explain. Anyway, I take it that this is Bottom Line?" Lucien pointed to the stallion in question. The colt had a plain gray coat with a thinning black mane, and a cutie mark of a quill drawing a line of ink. His very presence seemed to radiate old-ness.

"Yes, you nincompoop, I am Bottom Line. Now that the introductions are out of the way, what are you all doing in my house?!" His transformation from grumpy pony to a raging grandpa took them all completely by surprise.

Lucien fell down from the ceiling and landed firmly on the wooden floors, eliciting a loud creak that echoed down the hall. "Oh, right, sorry about the breaking and entering. I knew something was wrong with the town and we came into the first house we saw to gauge the situation." It was the truth.

Nonetheless, Bottom Line eyed him warily. "Eh. I'll accept it for now, but only because these six lovely mares vouched for you." At their mention, most the ponies blushed and Fluttershy hid behind her mane. Rarity was the only one who seemed unaffected by the subtle compliment. "Someone's a little egotistical."

"So what's going on? What can you tell me?" Lucien asked slightly impatiently.

"I'll get straight to the point—"

"You mean 'straight to the bottom line'?" he snickered, pulling out a few giggles from the girls.

The pony gave him a stare of pure hatred and gritted his teeth together. Lucien feared for his life in that brief moment. "Yes. That." He breathed out and calmed down a bit. "All jokes about my name aside, there is something out there that is out to kill us. Of that, I am certain."

That got Lucien's attention. "What have you seen? Describe it."

"They look a bit like you, son. Tall and menacing. But you don't look half as bad as these things. These creatures are revolting. They're covered in black, inky stuff that drips from it. Some of them have tentacles coming out of their heads and . . . other places." He shuddered. "One of them tried to grab me . . ." he started to trail off as his eyes lost focus for a moment. "But the worst thing," he looked directly at Lucien, "the worst part is the eyes. They glow like the fires of Tartarus and seem just as deep. I'm surprised I haven't had a heart attack yet."

"So they look like me."

"Yes."

"Black filthy stuff drips off them."

"Yes."

"Tentacles."

"Yes. Is there a point to this?"

"And glowing eyes?"

"Yes!"

Lucien sighed with relief. "Whew! I thought it was something actually serious!"

"WHAT?!" The house shook with the volume of the gathered ponies' outburst.

"Geez, you guys, if you wanted me to explain, you could have just asked." He shook his head at them disapprovingly. "Anyway, this is hardly a threat. I'm honestly surprised that it wasn't anything worse. Let me just show you." He shrugged his backpack off and pulled out his notebook, then flipped to a page rapidly. "Basically, there's this sort of virus - well, more like a fungus, really - that has infested my world in a few places. It spreads around and infects humans and turns them into, well, this." He showed them all a page with a sketch of a creature similar to the one described by Bottom Line.

He turned it back to him and began to read it aloud. "'The Filth is some manner of sentient lifeform, its purpose in living is unclear, but it's intent on destroying human life. Not much can be said about it, but the hosts it takes are generally weakened by the creature living off some of its last energy. Occasionally," he flipped the page over to the back, "there will be mutations, mostly in wild animal hosts, that will transform the host into an over-powered son-of-a-bitch. Due to its overall lack of intelligence, the Filth is controlled by a Queen that directs their actions via proposed telepathic communications.'" He turned back to the first side and some of the ponies could make out multiple stacked sticky notes at the end of the page that read "Times Killed," followed by an incalculable number of tally marks. "Those are my notes. Want to see a sketch of one of the Mutant Filths I fought?"

"Eh, why not?" Rainbow Dash ventured, while the rest of the ponies turned away to go have their own conversation.

"Okay, here ya go." He flipped the notebook around again and showed the sketch to Dash.

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho! That's so nasty!" She grabbed the book with her hooves to get a better look. Lucien saw her eyes widen in disbelief. "You fought this guy?" she asked incredulously.

"Not just him, but a few more like him. I'll spare you the details, but I'll tell you that when the Filth mutates like this, it is not easy to deal with. I've gotten out of my fair share of close calls with beasts like this."

Rainbow could hardly believe what he was saying. "That is so awesome, you don't even know. It sounds so exciting! Living life on the edge! Every day another threat, another adventure!" She shot up into the air and the notebook dropped back into Lucien's hands.

"It's not fun and games all the time, but yeah. This is my life." He smiled when he said that, but it felt fake to even him. "Am I going to tell her how bad it can actually get? . . . Nope. Let her have her moment." He turned back to the other ponies while Rainbow was punching at the air, her mind in a different place entirely. "Alright, ponies, what are we talking about?"

Twilight looked at him with worry in her eyes. "You said these things weren't dangerous, correct?"

"Well, no. I didn't say that specifically. They aren't dangerous to me, or anyone with a brain in particular. Pfft."

"But what are we going to do about them?! We can't have these Filth creatures stumbling around Ponyville in the snow!" Her pupils constricted. "What if this is happening all over Equestria!?" She gasped suddenly, her breath shortening into quick pants. "Those magic spikes the Princess was tracking! They weren't just here, they were all over Equestria!" She was dangerously close to losing it.

"Whoa, whoa there Twilight, let's think this out, alright?"

She gulped and nodded, even though she didn't look any more calm.

"Those spikes we saw, the ones in the other cities, they were all very broad, yes?"

She nodded.

"Yes, they were. And the one in the Everfree? How big was that one? Can you tell me?"

"It was narrowed to that area . . . in . . . particular." He could see the gears turning as she calmed down a bit.

"Good, now what does that tell us?"

"It was concentrated here."

"Yes. And since I came through here, we can only assume that it's only happening here. The other cities, well, I don't know what could be happening there, but Ponyville is the only town that will be affected by this; given that we don't allow it to spread. Are you alright now?"

She took a deep breath as the assembled looked at her expectantly. "Yes. I'm fine. I'm going to teleport to the library and check if Spike is safe. That dragon knows when to get out of danger's way, but I can never be sure."

"Perfect! I'll go with you!" Lucien chirped in.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't you stay here with the group?"

"Nah, as long as they're in here they should be fine. Besides, I want to check on the little guy also, and see if there's anything at the library I can grab to help us fight off the Filth."

Applejack broke in. "Whoa, hay there. Who now said anything about us? Ain't this more suited to your perticular skills?" she drawled.

"Yeah, sort of. But there's usually a small army of them, and it's always more fun when you fight with other people. Besides, I need to teach you guys combat sometime, right?"

"Fluttershy ain't participatin'."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

The pegasus in question was huddled behind Bottom Line.

"Twilight, let's just go. This should only take a few minutes, and then we'll come back over here."

"Right," Twilight responded.

"Good." He disappeared in a flash.

Twilight gave them all a little smile before teleporting away too.

"Anypony know a good card game?" Pinkie asked after a minute of silence.

Lucien materialized in the library with a pop that was quickly followed by Twilight's flash and bang. "Spike!" she called out. The sound of padded feet rushing across wood greeted them, and a bucket suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase. A pair of purple claws pulled the bucket up and the baby dragon's face was revealed.

"Twilight! Lucien!" he called out, rushing down the stairs.

Lucien had to stifle a giggle as he noticed that Spike had once again donned his pillow-armor. In his scaled hand was a tennis racket, the second greatest tool of personal defense.

"Hey, hold on, your image is lacking in something." He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers with an, "Aha!" He held up his hand and a frying pan materialized in it. He knelt down and replaced the light racket with its heavier cousin. "There you go, heh. That would be much more effective."

Spike looked at him in confusion. "You're laughing at a time like this? Ponyville is under attack, if you haven't noticed!"

"What? Yeah, I kinda did notice. But it's not really a problem. The girls and I are going to take care of it in a few minutes."

"What? How?" both Twilight and Spike asked at the same time.

"I think the best course of action right now would be to take some of your reagents and brew them into concussive grenades, then I'll run to my house and pick up a few spare daggers or something. Not to mention I think I left the heater running when we left." He grinned.

She rolled her eyes at him, but accepted his plan nonetheless. "Okay, I'll go get mixing." And with that she gave Spike a quick hug and ran off to the basement of the library.

"So what am I gonna do?" he asked, holding his arms out to the side.

"That's an excellent question," Lucien responded after a moment of thought. "He's too small to do any real damage, besides, I don't want him to get hurt. Ah! I know!" He snapped his fingers. "While we're out fighting, you can go from door to door telling everypony that it'll be safe to go outside within the hour. Sound good?"

"Well . . . as long as none of you are hurt while you're out fighting! Got that?" he demanded.

Lucien held up his hands in surrender. "I've got that. Now, if you'll excuse me." For lack of a flashier exit, he decided to cast a spell to reverse his gravity and float upwards before teleporting away. Right before he disappeared, he caught a look at Spike's bewildered face and burst out into laughter. Laughter that carried over as he arrived on the ceiling of his own house.

"Shit!" his head slammed into the hard stone ceiling. He flopped out of the unintentional head-stand and landed on his back hard. "Ow!" He laid there for a moment and considered his previous actions. "Was it worth it?" He recalled the look on Spike's face and giggled. "Hell yeah it was."

After a brief second of hesitation, he flipped around through the air and landed back on ground floor. He was righted after a brief moment of vertigo. When the world stopped spinning, and after shooting a look to the set-off thermostat, he walked down into his basement. It took him a moment to adjust to the darkness of the room, but when he did, he walked over to the left wall, towards a weapons rack that he crafted himself.

"Now, what to grab? Who would like what?" He browsed his collection of weapons he had either crafted there or brought in his backpack. On the wall was two spears, a halberd, a katana, three daggers, a mace, some chain whips, and a rather large stack of shuriken.

"Twilight can use magic, but I'll give her a dagger too. Those mage-type classes always need to have a little something extra. He grabbed one off its place on the wall, along with a matching sheath.

"Rainbow Dash . . .? Katana. For sure." He picked it up and twirled it once. He put it in a matching scabbard and slung it over his shoulder.

"Applejack. She's a bit of a cow-pony. I bet she'd be really good with those chains." He pulled the chains off their hook and wrapped them around his wrist. He'd always admired people that could wield chains.

"Rarity wouldn't want to touch these things, and she's definitely not built to be a combat mage. She might not even want to fight them in the first place." After a moment of careful consideration, he pulled a poleaxe off the handle. She could figure it out. "Pointy end goes into other person," Lucien murmured.

"Pinkie Pie? Oh geez. Uh . . ." He closed his eyes and moved a finger around the weapons randomly, then stopped. He had selected the pile of shuriken. "Good, but not enough. She'll probably do well with a mace."

With his weapons selected, and feeling significantly heavier, he teleported directly back to the library.

He appeared directly in front of Twilight Sparkle, who had a box of potions floating in her magic. She shrieked and the box clattered to the ground, where it exploded in a shower of cardboard. Once she regained control, she looked at the box and then to Lucien with an accusatory stare.

"Sorry, sorry, my bad. Are those the potions?" he asked.

"No, Lucien."

"Oh, good, because I thought that—"

"Those were the potions." She interrupted him in a cold voice.

"Ah. Well, we don't need them anymore anyway." He shrugged it off.

Twilight's ears perked up. "Why's that?"

Lucien gave her a deadpan stare and gestured to all of him. After a moment, she began to take note of the various weapons that were supported by his body. "Dagger for you, katana for Dash, chains for AJ, poleaxe for Rarity, and shuriken and a mace for Pinkie. Think I made good choices?"

She appraised the devices of mayhem for a moment, then held up a hoof. "Poleaxe for Rarity? And why does Pinkie even get a weapon? She's dangerous enough as is, plus that Party Cannon is powerful enough."

"I figured that Rarity wouldn't be able to do much combat magic, so she gets a poleaxe. Doubt she would want to get close to them. And as for Pinkie, well . . ." his thoughts trailed off. "You might be right on that account." He dropped most of his items on the floor and pulled his backpack off. He dropped the mace and shuriken inside and zipped it back up.

He noticed Twilight's perplexed and surprised face as the backpack was righting itself on his shoulders. "What?" he asked.

"Your bag. It's enchanted." She noted.

"Uh, yeah? Didn't I tell you about it before?" he asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't believe so."

"Huh."

A silence took over the room. Lucien coughed.

"We should probably get going. The others will wonder what's taking us so long," Twilight said at last.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Wouldn't want them getting the wrong idea." His pupils narrowed once he realized what he said. "Oh, uh, I mean-" He huffed and teleported without another word.

Twilight blushed and followed suit after calling out to Spike that they were leaving.

"No fair! You're totally cheating! Nopony is this good at Bluffer!" was the first statement that reached Lucien's ears when he teleported back into Bottom Line's house. He could hear voices from the other room so he walked in slowly, weapons draped around his body.

"Hey, guys, I brought back the stuff . . . What are you doing?" a bemused expression took over his face upon noticing the group of ponies. They were sitting on the ground, but Rainbow, Pinkie, and Bottom Line were all standing on their heads, and Rarity was wearing socks that reached almost up to the tops of her legs, a blush completing the look. "Uh . . ."

"I shall have no more of this ridiculous game!" Rarity suddenly exclaimed and threw her cards forward. "Get off your heads, we have work to do!" she called to the three upside-down ponies while removing her socks. Her eyes never made contact with Lucien the whole time. Rarity trotted by him, probably headed to a restroom, and whispered to him, "you shall never speak of this."

"Well . . . that was . . . something," he said, remarkably confused.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Twilight materialized in the room directly to his right, an annoyed expression on her face. "Okay, let's go get this done. Lucien, go distribute your weapons." She nodded to him.

"Alright." He let the items fall to the floor, the poleaxe sticking into the floorboards. He winced at the thunk-ing noise it made. "So I made the best decisions I could with my limited time, but I think you'll like what I chose." He picked up the katana, in its sheath, from the ground and held it sideways with both hands. "Rainbow Dash," he called. The brash mare walked forward.

"Whatcha got for me? Something awesome?" she asked.

"Yeah, I think this'll do just fine. It's a katana. Basically, really fast, really sharp, and probably the coolest-looking sword type ever. Try not to hurt yourself before I show you how to use it." He bowed formally and passed it to her. She took it in her hooves like he was holding it, supporting herself with her wings.

"Whoa. This is pretty cool looking." She unsheathed it slightly, exposing the polished metal of the sword itself. "What did you call this thing? A kurtana?"

"Katana," he responded while picking up the chains. "Applejack." The mare stepped forward hesitantly. "You get the chains. They're not the easiest to use, but given your experience with rope I'd say they're a pretty good match." He handed off the coil to her hoof and she looked at it in slight confusion, then she glanced up at him. "Wrap it around your hoof. Here, let me show you."

She passed the coil back to him and he wrapped it around his left wrist loosely. "So you kinda just let it sit like this, and when you want to use it, you can drop most of it down, like this." He threw his hand down and several coils fell. A few coils were left on his wrist and he gripped the chain tightly in his hand. The links barely touched the floor. "I got obsessed with using these a few years back. Never got very good though. Had to use magic to cheat at it more often than not." As a demonstration, he swung the chain forward and let it spin around in an arc before he brought it back to his hand. He got it to wrap around his wrist again without much difficulty. "There you go." He handed it back to her.

"I take it you aren't the most magically skilled Rarity, no offence?"

"That isn't the most couth way of putting it, but yes, my prowess does not match that of Twilight's," she responded.

"Good, because I have this for you." With considerable difficulty he tugged the poleaxe out of the floorboards. He spun it around in his hands and then let it sit horizontally in his grip. "Poleaxe, because I figured you wouldn't want to get too close to The Filth. As the name suggests, it's not the greatest thing in the world to be near. As for using it, 'sharp end goes into other person,'" he quoted.

". . . Quite," she enveloped it in her magic with a look of uncertainty.

"That's everypony. Pinkie, I've got nothing for you because . . . well, Twilight here said you're OP as hell without any real weapons, so I'm gonna trust her on that one. I already gave Twilight her weapon . . . wait . . ." He paused and looked at Twilight holding her dagger through "director's fingers." Something was off. "That knife doesn't suit her well enough. Maybe if I . . ." "Can I see that?" he asked her, holding out his hand.

"Sure."

His magic enveloped the dagger and it floated to him. "This doesn't seem like you. It's not your style. So, I'm gonna change it up a bit." He turned the knife vertical and put one palm at the base of the hilt and the other at the top of the blade. Paying careful attention to the faces of his friends, he clapped his hands together suddenly, eliciting gasps from the ponies. "Ah! Wait just one moment! I'm completely fine!" His hands were still together. Then, with a little effort, he put his fingertips together and began to pull them apart. Something was forming in the space between his hands as they spread further away from each other. Thirty seconds later, and he was holding a full fledged baseball bat. With a smug grin at the shocked expressions on his friend's faces, he presented Twilight with her brand new bat.

Her mouth hanging wide open, she grabbed it with her hooves, forgetting she had magic for a moment. She fumbled with it for a moment, then firmly grasped it in her hoof. Her jaw rejoined its counterpart and she nodded a thanks to Lucien.

"That's your style. I'm calling it right now, that bat will be your best friend." After seeing the glare from Pinkie he added, "for fighting, that is."

"I sure hope so. But what happened to that knife?" she asked him. Her question was echoed by the rest of the ponies' confused voices.

He waggled a finger. "Now, a good magician never reveals his secrets," he replied, eliciting a chorus of "aww's" from them. "But it's a good thing I'm a great magician, so I'll tell you." Applejack chuckled at the little joke. "I just put it up my sleeve." He threw his arm down and the dagger shot down into his hand. "Of course, there's a ton of other small things I could have done," while he talked he spun the knife around in a circle and it disappeared somewhere along the way, "but I chose a minor sleight of hand instead. Tricks like this are fun." He held up his hands and rolled up his sleeves to show that the dagger had completely vanished.

"But enough of that. We have a town to save. Let's get moving."

Author's Notes:

So that last chapter? The one where I said this is going on hiatus?

Yeah, I lied.

Edit: forgot Rarity's poleaxe. Fixed now.

Chapter 18: War Preparations

With a title like that, what could possible happen in this chapter? Why am I asking you that question when you're just going to read it anyway right now and find out?

But before you do, here's this chapter's theme song.

Lucien kicked the front door of Bottom Line's house open with a loud slam that echoed across the eerily silent Ponyville. He held Balance in his hand and a smile on his face. The ponies that followed behind him, however, were much less enthused than the exuberant human.

"Lucien, are ya sure this is the best way ta handle things? With the five of us too?" Applejack asked unsteadily, eyes flicking between the back of the man's head and the chain wrapped around her hoof.

He waved a hand over his should and turned his head part-way. "I'll take the first couple ones that we encounter and we'll see how you feel then. This'll be fun! I guarantee it!" He put his head forward and continued to march through the shallow snow.

Applejack let out a sigh decided to just let him have his way. She looked up and tried to get her bearings, but the snow was falling too hard to make out just where they were in the village. "Shoot, does anypony know where we are? I'm a might lost in this dang blizzard."

Pinkie's chipper voice piped up from the back of the group. "Ooh! I know! We're at the intersection between Hall Avenue and Oates Street!"

The group paused for a moment and turned to look at her. Twilight was especially perplexed at the mare's knowledge. "Pinkie, how did you know that? We can't see anything out here!" she exclaimed.

Instead of answering verbally, Pinkie's smile grew bigger and she slowly raised a hoof to point at a sign located just to the left of the group. Sure enough, Hall Ave. and Oates St. were printed in large, bold letters on each wooden arrow.

There was a collective face-hoof/palm as the group realized how obvious the sign was.

"Let's just keep moving. There should be some Filth around here somewhere..." Lucien's eyes scanned his surroundings. "All this snow is getting really annoying. I wonder if I still have that Clear Storm spell written down." Acting on his thoughts, he immediately sheathed his sword, shrugged his backpack off his shoulders, knelt down, and unzipped it. After a moment of rummaging around, he withdrew his notebook. "Rituals... Crafting... Ah, Spell." he thought as he flipped through the pages.

He read it over carefully and winced. "This seems a lot more like a ritual than a spell. Maybe I'll transfer the page over sometime later. Might as well get started with it."

"What are you looking for Lucien?" asked Twilight, peering over his shoulder. She noticed the spell he had on the notebook page and the color drained from her face. "That... that's a spell? Seems a little drastic, Lucien, is that properly labeled?"

He zipped up his bag and stood up, notebook still in hand. "I know the process and requirements seem a little, well, extreme—"

"Extreme? That's going beyond extreme. Asking you to physically harm yourself—"

"Excuse me?" interrupted Rarity, "what exactly are you two going on about?"

Lucien sighed. "A spell I have copied down here that I can use to clear the skies around Ponyville for a good hour or so. More than enough time for us to get the job done. Sparkles over here seems to object to the idea."

She put a hoof down in annoyance. "Of course I object to it! I'm not letting you hurt yourself for a stupid spell that can be accomplished by Rainbow Dash in just a bit longer!"

"I'm doing it. It's not that big of a deal anyway. I get hurt all the time, this is nothing." He noticed Twilight's glare and decided to take a different approach. "I can just use a quick healing spell afterward anyway. I don't use this spell very often, and I think it'll be good for practice. Besides, you'll be able to learn a little bit about weather magic."

Her gaze softened a bit and Lucien knew he won. "Alright," she relented, "but just try not to bleed out," she added unhappily.

Rainbow Dash hovered above the semicircle that had gathered around Lucien. "Wait, what exactly are you doing?" she asked, completely lost.

Lucien pinched the bride of his nose and began to explain. "I'm going to use a spell - it's more of a ritual, actually - that will clear the skies around Ponyville for about an hour. Don't take it personally, it's just that this is faster."

"Ha! Nothing's faster than me—"

"Only this is. It's magic. You literally can't get faster than this without being The Flash. Just sit back for a minute and let me handle this, okay?"

Rainbow grumbled and crossed her forelegs, but she hovered to take a place in the snow next to Pinkie.

"Great, now let's get started." Lucien held the notebook out in front of him and let it drop. As it fell, a column of earth rose to meet it just as it left his hand. The pages fluttered softly in the slight breeze, and he brought up a mana shield to stop it, along with an overhang to catch the snow. His eyes never left the paper.

He held out his left hand and a small knife materialized in it. Without warning, he slashed his right palm open. Blood welled up in the wound and he closed his fist quickly, then held his hand over his open notebook. A few drops splattered across the page, then Lucien quickly performed a healing spell to close up the cut.

He immediately put his hand over the notebook. The pages began to rustle and glow a light blue. The ponies behind him gasped. He closed his hand shut in a crushing motion, and the page of the spell crumbled up into a ball, transforming into pure energy during the act. Lucien's fingers opened slowly and the ball floated into his half-open grip. He allowed a short moment to smirk at the girls, then he lobbed the blue ball of mana straight into the clouds above.

Lucien looked up to see that, starting where the pillar had struck the sky, clouds were disappearing, fading into the blue sky.

After a moment of silence, Lucien pretended to dust his hands off. "Well, now that that's out of the way, let's have a little fun, huh?"

The snow let up immediately, but the ground was still coated in the stuff. It made walking a bit difficult for Lucien, but he had been through worse. It wouldn't hinder his fighting too badly. The girls, however, he worried about. For the first time since they arrived in Ponyville from the Everfree, he began to doubt his decision in having them fight with him. In a split decision after the words had left his mouth, he spoke his mind.

"Uh, girls?" he opened.

Their ears perked up as they took note of his tone of voice. "Yes, Lucien?" Rarity said.

"I get the feeling I might have . . . rushed you into this. I want to know if you're all comfortable doing this with me," he said reluctantly.

There was silence for a moment while the five ponies took stock of their thoughts and considered how they felt about the situation. After a few more seconds, Applejack spoke up. "Well, shoot. Ah never thought Ah'd be doin' something like this. For me, it's a bit like bein' stuck between a rock 'in a hard place. Ah don't want to have to go out and . . . kill these things that you're talking about . . . but Ah have to. To protect mah kin and mah town." A fierce determination filled her eyes and the eyes of the ponies around her. "Ah believe Ah speak for all of us when Ah say that," she concluded.

The rest of them nodded, confirming her belief. Lucien spoke again. "Are you sure? Because I can just handle this all myself. It's not much of a challenge anyway. I don't want any of you getting hurt either." He paused for a moment, thinking that the statement required a bit more explanation. "I jumped on the opportunity because I thought that we'd all have a good time fighting. I know I always do when it comes to these things . . . but now I remember that none of you are like me. I doubt slaying droves of mindless creatures would appeal very much to you all."

He stopped again. "If you do back out, I won't look down on you for it, but I'm still going to give you basic combat training. If there are things coming out of my world, then you're going to need to know how to fight them." He took a deep breath and held out his arms openly. "Who wants to go home?" he asked simply.

A cold wind rustled through the town and ruffled Lucien's hair and the ponies' manes were tossed around. Not a single hoof was raised.

Lucien clapped his hands together. "Alright. That's your decision, and you can't go saying I didn't warn you." He took another breath. "Before I go and attract them all to us, I need to explain a little bit on how we'll be combating the Filth. Now, each of you has a specific fighting style, that much is apparent to me. Twilight's an obvious battle mage, Dash is a swordsman, Rarity can use a poleaxe and magic - don't really have a name for that; it's a weird combo - Applejack is practically designed for the chains, and Pinkie Pie . . . well, I don't really know what to say for that one.

"I'm going with my instincts on this one and trusting you all to learn how to use your weapons without hurting yourselves and anyone else, the Filth excluded. Think of them as target practice for now." He stopped for a moment to gauge their faces. Each was blank, devoid of most emotion. They were too hard for Lucien's inexperienced eyes to read. "So, the Filth," he began, "they're stupid. Really, really, incredibly stupid. Not an ounce of smarts in that mangled, tentacled thing that we refer to as a head. You'd think that they'd recognize an obvious trap when it's set? Nope, they'll walk right into it. You'd think they'd get out of the way of someone swinging a sword about wildly? Nope, they'll just keep walking right along until it takes off an arm or something else important.

"While we're fighting them, I have a few rules that you need to follow, closely." He began pacing back and forth in front of the group like a Drill Sergeant. "Rule number one: if you're in trouble, call for help. We can't help you if we don't know you're in trouble. Rule number two: don't wander off. Staying in a group when you fight is a great way to not die. Wandering off in the middle of a fight is only a good idea when . . . well, it's actually never a good idea. Don't do it! Rule number three: keep your distance! This is the most important rule and it applies to everyone, always! Even you, Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus looked about in slight confusion and anger. "What does that mean?!" she demanded.

"It means that I know you're going to try to rush the Filth eventually, and I know that it's a bad idea, and it'll probably get you maimed or infected. If that happens, then I have to waste a shit-ton of energy or resources to heal you, and you'll be in a lot of pain the whole time. So no rushing! Always keep them at sword's length, unless you're in the middle of attacking them. You got that!?"

"Yes, sir!" answered the ragtag group enthusiastically. Lucien's speech had greatly improved their moods, and now they were rearing to go and retake Ponyville.

"Fantastic! Let's go!" Lucien shouted and took off walking towards Ponyville Park.

Author's Notes:

I hope the overall quality of this isn't too bad. It was written in a bit of a hurry over two nights and after I demolished about half of the original chapter. Keep in mind that this is the first half of Chapter 18, Ch. 18 Part 2 will be a full 5,000 - 6,000 on the details of the battle and possibly aftermath.

That means that the next chapter will be mostly fighting. Mostly.

Don't quote me on that.

Chapter 19: War Reparations

It had stopped snowing in Ponyville. The clouds above had cleared, revealing a cold blue sky. A chilling wind wound its way through the buildings and buffeted Lucien's thick jacket. "I really wish that spell applied to all aspects of the weather. It's friggin' cold out here!" he half-whispered. He held up his hand and summoned a small flame to keep warm.

The human and five accompanying ponies walked through the layer of snow that had blanketed the streets and roads of Ponyville. They were making their way to the most defensible position in town, a large hill that looked over the park. They hadn't encountered any Filth along the way, something that seemed a little strange to Lucien. "'The Filth is characterized by great numbers,'" he quoted in his mind, "so where are they?" He shrugged mentally.

After a minute of walking, they reached the hill and quickly ascended it. Once they were at the top, Lucien stretched his back and groaned, then he began to do a few quick stretches. While he was reaching to grab his left leg, he felt several pairs of eyes on his behind, and he turned around quickly, only for each pony to look away in a different direction. Except for Pinkie Pie. She just kept on staring at him. "What are you looking at?" he asked.

"What are you doing, is more like it. You look like an idiot," Rainbow Dash said, cracking a smile.

"Rule #18, Rainbow Dash," Lucien said as he continued his routine stretches, "Limber Up." He finished and stood to face them once again. "I'm not going to be caught out there because I got a cramp in my leg or some equally ridiculous sprain. The Filth hasn't gotten me before, and it won't get me now."

The five ponies adopted a look of consideration, before they all somewhat hesitantly began doing stretches of their own, if a bit awkwardly.

Lucien chuckled. "Not so much of an idiot now, am I?" he taunted teasingly.

"Go stuff it," was Dash's reply between stretches.

They all limbered up for a moment longer, then Lucien interrupted. "Alright, are you all ready? Because I sure am, and the Filth sure as hell is."

Twilight looked up and glanced at the conflicted faces of her friends. They each wore a look that resembled that of false bravery. "I guess we are. What's the plan?"

"Heh. You guys are gonna love this." Without another word, he removed his backpack and started to rummage through it. After a brief second of searching, he pulled out a small metal cylinder with what appeared to be a small orange funnel on the top, along with a roll of a silvery material. Mystified, the ponies watched as he took a few steps down the hill and scooped out a section of snow with his hand.

Lucien glanced back up at the five and flashed them a smile. He took a bit of material off the silvery roll and attached it to the side of the metal cylinder. Then, just before he wrapped the around the top, he looked back up again and said, "let me play you the song of my people." An extremely annoying sound began to blare out its ungodly call to the whole town of Ponyville.

The multicolored horses covered their ears in response to the cacophony. Lucien dropped the cylinder in the hole he had dug and then covered it up again, muffling the sound enough for the ponies to take their hooves off their ears. "What was that?" Applejack asked first.

"That was an air horn with duct tape wrapped around the trigger. It'll go on like that for a good few minutes before finally dying out. Which reminds me-" he turned and pointed at where he buried the horn and his hand glowed a dark red. Hovering slightly above the snow, a circle of runes of a matching color spun rapidly for a moment before settling into a slow rotation on the spot. "There we go. Now, just wait one moment." He turned his head so that his left ear was facing the center of Ponyville. Then, right on cue, many enraged cries of anguish reached their ears. "Right on time."

"So this is the plan? Let them all come to us so we'll be overwhelmed?" Twilight interrogated Lucien.

He held up his hands in defense. "Hold your horses there missy, that's only phase one."

He took her deadpan expression as a cue to continue.

"The Filth will all come running and screaming over here, which will get them out of the bulk of the town and into one place. They'll ignore us until that horn stops going off, and then they'll probably shred it as soon as they dig it up. But, fortunately, they will have a difficult time doing that." He pointed at the red circle over the horn's burial spot. "Do you know what that is?" he asked her.

"A spell of some sort? Those look like runes so- oh. I see," she said.

"Yeah, a trap. A big, fiery trap that makes me glad there are only a few trees around here. But before they start to show up, let me tell you phase two." But before he could continue speaking, the first few Filth made their presence known on the base of the hill. "Well it took you long enough, you ugly sacks of shit!" Lucien called down to the mindless monsters.

If they heard him, they didn't show it.

"Lucien, that's hardly dignified!" Rarity said, aghast at the man's actions.

"I like to think that their Queen, wherever it is, can hear me talking. Hold on a second," he turned and cupped his hands over his mouth, "You hear that Queenie?! I'm gonna find you!" he yelled madly. He turned back to Rarity, "besides, it helps me get pumped."

Pinkie raised a hoof. "You said there was stage two, right? What's that?"

"Oh, yeah. Almost forgot about that." Lucien casually turned and raised his foot high in the air. When he stomped down, six wooden sleds popped up out of the snow. When he faced them again, they could notice slight fatigue on his face, but it brightened up again almost immediately. He waved his hands at the sleds like he was modeling fabulous prizes for a game show. "Stage two," he said.

"You can't be serious," Twilight said.

Lucien's expression told her he was serious.

The sound of a hoof connecting with a forehead could barely be heard over the sound of the air horn. "I can't believe this..."

Her friends were in similar states of disbelief. Their emotions ranged from slight excitement, to concern, to worry. "Ah'm not sure if this is the best idea," Applejack stated.

"Nonsense, it's the best idea!" Lucien exclaimed. "We're gonna have so much fun with these!"

But before he could continue, an exceptionally large column of flame erupted behind his back, setting the left arm of his jacket on fire. He patted it out almost absent-mindedly while the ponies rushed forward in a flurry to make sure he wasn't burnt. He waved them off quickly as the sound of the horn was abruptly cut off.

"Time to go, fellas, take your pick of vehicle, I'll keep them off the top of the hill for the moment." He walked to the edge of the mound they stood on and looked down at the masses of dark-stained individuals, each baying for a taste of the mage's blood.

Harmony flashed into his hands and he allowed them to spin freely for a moment while the first wave of Filth got closer to him. When they were within range, he closed his fists and threw the chakram in his left hand at the closest monster. It sliced through its neck and kept flying. After a second, it flashed back into his hand. "Cool. Seems a little bit OP, but I'll take it."

He sprinted forward and spun around, letting the blades fly from his hands and spin around his body thanks to a enchantment he had given them. The three or four Filth closest to him suddenly found that their legs were no longer below them. Lucien's face was slightly splattered by the inky substance that they bled.

When Harmony returned to his hands, they flashed and Balance came into existence in his left hand. He swung it forward and cleaved through one Filth before flipping it backhanded and slicing cleanly through another. He switched over to Chaos after the slice had ended and used the sudden momentum to spin around and slam the heavy hammer into not one but two Filth that had run up to him.

"Lucien!" a voice called from the top of the hill. The man paused in his ministrations and looked up to see that the five mares were all sitting on the sleds he had conjured up.

He jumped back and lifted Chaos up slowly, charging it up with mana quickly. He let it begin to drop and added his own force behind it. The magically-charged hammer smashed into the snow, digging in deep and leaving a thin fault line that stretched a fairly large distance to his right and left. Chaos reverted back into Balance and Lucien turned to run.

When he reached the summit of the hill, he spun around quickly and held up a palm to face the horde below him. There was a spark, and suddenly flames burst out of the fault line, forming a wall of fire. Lucien's face flickered in the flames and illuminated his manic face. He bore the smile of a mad man, and he slowly flipped his sword on his back and held out his arms to either side. The flames before him grew larger and brighter while the Filth quickly burnt to a crisp in the magical fire.

He spun quickly to face the ponies waiting for him, still bearing the grin of a maniac. His face and clothes were streaked in dark fluids and his hair was wild. The girls flinched at the sight of him, their ears folding back against their heads. As the human walked toward them, fear was prominent among them.

Then, suddenly, he turned away from them and away from the sleds. They glanced at each others' faces momentarily in confusion. Out of seemingly nowhere, Lucien returned, in a full sprint, and jumped onto his sled. "Whoooooo-hoo! Let's go!" he hollered as he began to slide down the hill.

Twilight and Applejack shared nervous glances, then the five pushed off and began to slide down into the horde below.

They looked down to see Lucien already part of the way down, chakrams flashing from side to side and sword chopping down anything in front of him. Applejack uncoiled her chain part-way, Rarity levitated her poleaxe, Rainbow Dash unsheathed her katana and put the sheath on her back using its tie. Twilight's horn lit up and her bat hovered by her side, and Pinkie Pie cracked her hooves (somehow).

Lucien was a fearsome individual, that was certain. They had known him as a happy, fun guy for the time that he had been in Ponyville. Aside from the few incidents that had occurred, namely Bronze Gear, the Terramorphus, and the Revenant, he had stayed the happy guy that they knew and loved. The person they looked down on and had seen before; that was someone else entirely. Wild eyes, messy hair, ink-splattered clothing, maniac grin; it wasn't like anything they had ever seen before.

And he was just loving every second of it. As his kill count raised so did his energy. Each close encounter with a member of the Filth made his heart pound all the harder and his grin all the wider. His sword demolished everything in front of him in just a single swing, and his chakrams cut down everything to his left and right. When he got about halfway down the hill, he looked back to see how the girls were doing.

What he saw made his blood turn to ice.

The sleds flew by him, riderless. Without hesitation he leapt off and rolled through the snow while his momentum dissipated. He ran up the hill as fast as he could, cutting down any Filth that tried to grab at him while he dashed by. An arm caught him in his right shoulder but found no purchase on his new piece of armor.

He looked up for a moment and noticed Rainbow flying through the sky, bomb-diving members of the horde. Each pony was fighting a battle against one or two Filth, and more were steadily joining the fray. He had to act quickly.

Without hesitation he swung Chaos into a Filth Rarity was fighting, then smashed the hammer into another one about to attack on her blind side. After the two were dispatched, Rarity's poleaxe flew away and stabbed directly into another Filth preparing to attack her. Lucien shouted to her, "are you alright?!"

She responded in a steady voice, "I think I'll be fine, go help the others!"

Lucien followed her words and ran once again, this time towards Applejack, who was swinging her chair around wildly. He came up behind her and shouted, then a chakram flew out of his hand and embedded itself in the chest of a Filth. He ran forward and jumped on its chest, feet first, and it went down with the mage on top of it. He pulled the chakram out of its place and drove Balance through the Filth's head immediately afterward.

"Duck!" came Applejack's voice, cutting though the sounds of the fight, just as her chain cut through several taller Filth a moment later. The chain wrapped itself around her hoof again and Lucien faced her momentarily, each face bearing a look of respect and determination.

Lucien took off toward a pack of Filth that was approaching Pinkie, until a cry of surprise and pain was heard over the moans of the monsters. His head shot over to its origins and noticed a few flashes of blue disappearing underneath a sea of black. Lucien screamed in anger and sprinted over as fast as he could.

He swapped Balance into a back handed position and swung it into the closest Filth in the horde that had taken down Dash. It cleaved through and Lucien kept slicing. He waded further in and continued his bloody work. All he could see was black everywhere he turned, and his eyes desperately searched for the blue he hoped was hidden inside somewhere. He punched a Filth to his right and kicked another to his left. They both went down and the different blades of Harmony each embedded themselves inside their heads. They flashed back into Lucien's hands and he transformed them back into Balance.

He decapitated another two Filth with quick slashes and, suddenly, Dash was hovering before him, katana slashing dangerously close to his head. Out of reflex, Balance came up and blocked the attack. "Dash! Are you okay?" he asked as their blades locked.

The mare's coat was mussed and her hair was even more unkempt than usual. She was almost drenched in ink, even more so than Lucien. She had a slightly crazed look in her eyes, but a fighting spirit shown in them regardless. "Yeah, I'm alright, let's get 'em!"

They both spun and were back to back while the Filth regrouped in a circle around the duo. Lucien spotted Twilight and Pinkie teaming up to beat on a couple Filth slightly further up the hill. Rarity was close to them, using Applejack for support while they handled their own little horde. Satisfied with the knowledge that his friends were secure, Lucien turned his attention back to the monsters before him.

With a shout he went to work, slashing and swinging wildly, slaying great numbers of the abominations with every blow. His motions were fluid. As he would finish off a Filth in front of him with Balance, he would switch over to Harmony to kill anything within range. The process was repeated multiple times until he found himself surrounded once again. Out of nowhere Dash flew in and slashed at multiple Filth. She took off an arm that was about to bash Lucien and then removed the head of the arm's possessor.

The two tag-teamed the mobs around them. One eye was focused on the next target while the other one monitored how their counterpart was doing. Lucien put Balance through another Filth and Dash swooped in to finish it off. Sword still embedded, his head snapped to the side and he threw out his arm. Out of his sleeve flew a small dagger that dug into the neck of a Filth a ways behind him.

"Dash, fly out of here, I'll handle the rest!" he called out suddenly. Without a moment of hesitation she flew away to survey the battlefield. As she hovered she saw that Lucien was still surrounded by the bulk of the Filth, at least 25, while the rest of the girls had only three to four to deal with. A question bubbled up in the back of her mind, but it dissipated when she saw what Lucien was doing.

The mage used some pent up mana in Harmony to launch himself up high into the air. He hung there for a moment, on the same level as Dash. Then his hands flashed and Chaos appeared in them. He twirled it around his body before hurling it downward, head first.

The hammer slammed into the ground, knocking back more than several Filth initially. More swarmed in as Lucien came down quickly, his foot catching Chaos' handle, propelling the weapon up into the air slightly. He grasped it in one hand and swung it around with slight difficulty. The impact of the hammer drove through five Filth, sending them flying backwards over the horde.

He turned his head and slid backward, the opposite side of Chaos butting into a Filth, sending it skidding away. As the rest of the monsters on that side tried to attack him, he swung downward, causing an impact of force that launched the rest of the Filth on that side.

Chaos flashed and Harmony replaced it suddenly. He twirled around and the blades followed suit, rotating around his body until he finished his rotation. He caught them both simultaneously and took a knee, breathing hard. His heart pounded fast and heavy in his chest, and he waited a few moments, listening for approaching attackers. Surprisingly enough, none came.

Lucien's head rose to scan the slanted battlefield. What he saw surprised him. All the Filth had been reduced to small piles of black gunk on the snow, and the ponies were all standing together a ways off to his right. After a few seconds, they separated, and he got a good look at their conditions.

Twilight had suffered a few scrapes and bruises, and her bat sat on the ground next to where she was standing. Both her and it were splattered with ink, and the bat was splintered a bit.

Applejack was unharmed for the most part. She hardly had any gunk on her, save her hoof, which was covered in the stuff. The reason for that being that the chain was still wrapped around it.

Rarity didn't have a single hair out of place, and she was somehow clean of any ink. Her poleaxe was sticking out of the snow, pointy end first, and it was also completely clean. "Neat freak."

Pinkie hadn't shown her bright face for most of the fight, but she seemed mostly unharmed. There was a bit of confetti stuck in her mane, which explained why there were random bits of party supplies scattered across the battleground.

Rainbow Dash had taken the worst out of all of them. Many of her feathers were rustled and out of place, her mane stuck out wildly, and she was bleeding from multiple cuts across her body. She also happened to be near-drenched in gunk. It didn't even come close to rivaling Lucien's image.

When the girls noticed the mage sitting there, each gasped, either in surprise or horror, at what they saw. His clothes were torn and bloodied, ink staining them all over. His hair looked like it had been through a hurricane. His eyes were intense and hectic, darting about the area, looking for an attack that would never come. Balance was buried halfway into the snow, his hand resting heavily on the hilt. Lucien had taken the brunt of the Filth's masses, that much was clear.

His breathing had returned to normal when Twilight approached him, her hooves sinking softly into the snow. She stopped a few feet from where he was resting. She made a quick motion to make sure the rest of her friends weren't following. "Lucien? Are you alright?" she asked softly.

His grip tightened on Balance quickly, making Twilight flinch. His eyes met the ground once again, and he heaved a few deep breaths. After a moment, his grasp relaxed, then his hand slipped off the weapon entirely. Both of his palms were set on the snow, supporting his weight along with his knees.

Then, in one motion, he pushed backwards and sat down on his bottom. His legs splayed out forward and a lazy grin crept its way across his features. "See?" He coughed to the side, spitting up a bit of ink that had found its way into his mouth. "Fun, right?" he asked the group.

"Lucien!" The ponies rushed him and tackled him over. Hooves wrapped around his midsection and he suddenly found himself in the center of a massive group hug. It lasted for a few minutes, or at least it felt like that to him. He ruffled manes and patted backs, then they all started to rise out of the snow.

When they all had regained their standing positions, Lucien looked around and noticed that each pony had tears welling up in their eyes, partially hidden under smiles. "What's wrong, guys? We won, right?" he asked, slightly confused.

"Ya had us mighty scared for a second there, Lucien. Thought ya might have gone after tearing through those monsters like ya did. Scared me, for sure," Applejack responded. The rest of the ponies nodded their assent with her statement.

His eyes met the ground again. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tend to get carried away when facing small armies of those things and such. I would call fighting them a hobby, but when it's for the survival of the human race, eh." He shrugged. "Hunting down small packs of them I do for sport though," he added.

"Well I'm just glad you're alright," Rarity said. Then, after taking note of the state of his clothing, "and look what you did to your wardrobe! All that work soiled! I'll get right to work on making you another jacket, dear. You've earned it." She flashed a winning smile at him.

"What you did was so awesome! With the hammer and just like- boom! smash! pow! You totaled those things!" After collecting the stares of the entire group, Dash calmed down and her hooves touched the ground again. "I mean- it was cool fighting with you, even though I totally could have taken them all myself."

"Right, Dash, right. I'm sure you would have been able to take out all what, thirty of them? Without any help whatsoever?" Lucien poked at her.

"Well I-" she sighed. "Yeah, you're right. You're the only one who could have done that, and I'm glad you were here," she said in a rare moment of humility.

"I agree. You saved all of us back there, Lucien, you should be proud of it just like we're proud of you. I can't even imagine how much effort it took to cast all those spells in such a short time. Gravity spells, acceleration spells, spells that upgraded impact, I still have a hard time believing your knowledge of magic!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're going to teach me some of that sometime," she added firmly.

Lucien laughed. "I don't know if you're ready for that kind of magic Twilight, it can be a little rough at times. Maybe someday I will, but not any time soon."

The mare huffed and looked away in slight irritation, then her ear twitched and she looked down the hill. "What is that?" she asked, prompting the group to look in the same direction as her.

"What?" Lucien noticed a mob of ponies steadily advancing toward them. "Oh, right. I told Spike that he should let the townsponies know that it would be safe within an hour, which is," he pulled back the sleeve on his right hand to check his watch, "three minutes ago."

The ponies reached them, Mayor Mare ahead of the pack. "Twilight? Lucien? Girls? What is going on here?" she said, her reproachful and fearful look saying more than her words.

Just as Twilight was about to speak, Lucien nudged her side, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "let me handle this."

She replied with a nod and the human stood up. He straightened his back and checked to make sure his jacket was on correctly. He ran a hand through his messy hair, causing it to not change in the slightest, and began to walk towards the mare.

"Madame Mayor," he began, raising a finger into the air like a lawyer about to make his case, "my colleges and I discovered an infestation of Filth in this fine little town of yours, and we took it upon ourselves to, well, eradicate this menace. As you can see," he swept an arm to gesture to the entire battlefield, "we succeeded, but we aren't quite finished yet." He could practically hear the confusion coming from the ponies behind him. "There is one last monster that I need to take care of before this place will be safe. It is something that I will do alone, with nopony else." The last bits were spoken after turning his head to the side slightly.

"And now, I think you and the rest of the townspeople should probably get back inside." He checked his watch quickly. "This snow is so thick I can barely see five feet in front of me!" he exclaimed.

Mayor Mare just looked completely lost. "Snow? What snow?" she asked while turning her head around wildly.

"Why, this snow!" Lucien held his arms up to the sky right on cue. His weather spell wore off and the white fluff came dumping down all around them, obscuring their vision greatly.

"I won't pretend to know how you did that, Lucien, but just know that I'll be keeping a close eye on you. Come by Town Hall later so we can speak," she said with finality before turning around and waving all the ponies back to town.

Lucien rejoined his group and began to explain. "Alright, here's the deal. I have one last thing to take care of, the Hive Queen. I suspect she's camping out somewhere in the Everfree, so I'm gonna track her down after I finish off the Filth that we just destroyed, I could always use some more practice. Any questions?" he asked.

They all began talking at once, but Lucien cut them off as soon as he realized what a bad idea that question was. "Actually, never mind, I'll just take care of it and be back in a few." He took a breath. "Oh, hold up."

He rummaged around in his bag again, reaching both arms deep inside. When they reemerged, he was cradling six small metal cylinders. "You guys can have these," he said, tossing the cans to his friends. "You'll feel better after you drink it." Each popped the tab and took a hesitant sip, then a few more as they got used to the taste sensation of the canned potion.

"What is this? It tastes super!" said Pinkie Pie.

"I modified some Red Bull. Energy drink. It'll help you recover from all that fighting, and recharges a lot of mana along with it. Took a while to get the recipe right, and more than a few sleepless nights, but the payoff was worth it. Cheers," He opened his and chugged it down rapidly. "Can't drink too many at once though. I theorize that it would give a slight case of spontaneous combustion."

Each pony grimaced slightly at his words, but drank up anyway. Soon enough, the cans were empty and retrieved by Lucien. He held each one up in his magical grasp and quickly melted them down into a ball of hot aluminum. It cooled off rapidly, then he clapped his hands over the ball. When he separated them again, it was gone.

"Now, I'm gonna go hunt down that bitch in the forest." He reached once more into his backpack and withdrew two small, black, angular objects, one in each hand. He placed them in the snow next to him and withdrew two small rectangles, then he tossed the empty can back inside. He put the small rectangles in his pockets and picked up the other objects.

"Hey, what are those?" asked Rainbow Dash, flying over.

"These," he said back unhelpfully, much to Rainbow's annoyance. He showed the weapons to the ponies. In his hands were two pistols, and in his pockets were one magazine for each.

"What are those?" asked a curious Applejack.

"Do you have firearms in Equestria yet, Twilight?" he asked, choosing to forgo Applejack's question for one of his own.

She was caught off guard by the question. "Well, about five years ago, the Griffin Empire entered Equestria and brought new forms of armor and weapons. The armor used steam power to enhance movement speed, strength, and stamina. The weapons used a black powder to fire a single projectile at extremely high speeds, high enough to cut though even the most powerful magic. Some guards use them, basic models we call flintlocks. They aren't all that effective though, and only one shot can be fired before reloading."

He glanced at her. "A simple 'yes' would have sufficed, but thank you for giving us the history of guns in Equestria," he said, causing a slight blush to rise to her face and a snicker from Rainbow. "So these are like your flintlocks, only they're smaller, faster, and have about fifteen shots before they need to reload. I'm not going to demonstrate because I have limited ammo, but you get the idea. We have other models of guns back home too. Assault rifles, 'bout thirty shots, 'bout this big," he stretched his arms out to demonstrate, "pretty powerful too. Light machine guns, anywhere from fifty to one-hundred shots, a little bigger than rifles but much heavier. Pistols, light, quick, easy to hide, something I really appreciate. And shotguns, my personal favorite. They've got some insane variations, anything from a scattershot of several bullets to a single powerful slug, to a ton of flechettes.

"I use really whatever I can get my hands on, but the guns I find don't last with me very long, nor are they that helpful against the monsters I fight. Whenever I find one I'll take it with any ammo lying around and save it for my next fight. Unfortunately, every time I run out of the ammo I find, they're useless, since I'm not going to good money on ammo I don't really need. It's great when I do find something like this because I can take a load off my magic and get the satisfaction of blowing something's head off without too much strain on my mind."

He took their variously disgusted expressions as a cue to change subject. "Anyway, I'm gonna take these and go kill the Hive Queen before she can spawn more Filth. It usually takes her about a day, so we'll be fine while I search for her." He stopped talking, put the pistols in his waistband, and shrugged off his backpack. The ponies were silent as he rummaged around. After a moment he withdrew a strange object that he proceeded to fit onto his face.

"What is that?" asked Applejack.

"A rebreather. Remember how I said the Filth uses an airborne fungus of sorts?" The ponies nodded. "This makes it so I keep breathing fresh air." His voice came out tinny and slightly electronic from the speakers in the rebreather.

"Where'd you get it?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Hmm?" Lucien responded, zipping up his backpack after depositing several sodas. "Oh, yeah, it's just something small that I picked up from Earth. It's been through a lot with me, I'll tell ya."

"But anyway, that's enough exposition. I'm gonna go take care of this, and none of you are coming with me. Meet me back at Twilight's library in about an hour and I'll show you whatever I get for killing that bitch. Hive Queens tend to leave nice things lying around . . ." He looked around at each of the worn out faces. "Fantastic. Now go. Get some sleep if you want, you all look tired as hell."

The ponies obliged and stared to trudge down the hill. "And don't forget to pick up Fluttershy while you're at it," he hollered down.

He pulled the pistols out of his waistline and walked off towards the Everfree, intent on slaying the monster that had invaded his new home.

"It's been forty-five minutes, where is he?" Twilight asked nervously, staring at a clock. She stood near the checkout stand in the main room of the library.

"Don't sweat it, Twi, he's got this. He knows how to handle himself, I've seen it," came the retort of a laid-back Rainbow Dash. She was reclining in a small alcove next to the staircase leading to Twilight's room.

"Ah'm sure he'll be back any moment," added a slightly unsure Applejack, who was sitting on a bench beside Dash. Rarity was laying down on her emergency sofa, Pinkie Pie was looking at the giant wooden statue in the center of the room, and Fluttershy was trying to comfort Twilight.

Just then, the door opened, and an ink-soaked human shuffled inside the warm library. Rarity screamed at the sight of what she thought was a monster and leapt behind Pinkie Pie.

"Hey, relax, it's just me," came Lucien's slightly metallic voice from the towering pile of gunk that stood it Twilight's doorway. "Twilight? Do you think you can wipe off all this stuff with your magic?" he asked tiredly.

"Sure thing," she replied, relieved that he was safe. He glowed lavender for a moment and all the ink swept backward off him and out the door, carried in a cloud of Twilight's magic.

"Thanks." He shut the door and walked inside. He reached the center table, next to Pinkie Pie and Rarity, and sat on it hard. His face was worn out, and he slouched greatly.

"So what happened?" asked Pinkie Pie after a brief moment of silence.

"I found the nest, I strolled right in, I wasted all of my ammo into the queen's head." He offered them a weak smile. "Might as well say I wasted my time too, got nothing off her to show from it.

"Why would you want something off such a horrid creature?" asked Rarity.

"Eh, keepsake, maybe. We had some good times back there, you know?" He flashed her a tired smile. "Alright, I need to go see what Mayor Mare wants. After that I can see about grabbing some sleep." He stood back up with a groan and began to walk to the front door.

Right as he was about to grasp the handle, the door burst open, and in rushed several members of the Day Guard. They fixed themselves in positions about the room and tried to look authoritative. Lucien was bewildered, spun around so he was facing the library again. "What." His eye twitched. "What are you all doing here?" he asked to the room he was just about to leave.

He felt a gentle but strong hoof on his shoulder and he turned to face its owner, despite already knowing who it was.

Princess Celestia gave Lucien a small smile. "I am here to talk with you about something that has been brought to my attention recently," she said regally.

"If this is about the Filth, then I swear I had nothing to do with-" he was cut off when her hoof was placed over his mouth.

"This is about Bronze Gear," she said simply.

Author's Notes:

Agh! My wrists! I just went on a three hour writing spree (ten pm to one am) to get through 3,607 words of this chapter. I just wrote practically half of it just now.

Bluh.

So, lotta stuff going on here. Got some backstory, little more of Lucien's history revealed, along with his "wild side." That sure was interesting. Got inspiration from multiple places while writing that fight scene. It wasn't that easy to write either.

And guess who's coming back next chapter? I might post a blog with a sneak peak of a certain conversation that will happen soon enough.

Thanks for sticking with this for so long guys, this chapter is actually a pretty big story milestone. When this chapter is up, Ungrounded will officially break 100,000 words!

Chapter 19.5: Miles to Go

"Bronze Gear."

When the mare heard her name spoken she was snapped out of her trance. She was sitting in a cell in the dungeons of Canterlot. She'd been stuck down there for months now, her trial constantly being pushed back because she may be called on at any time to be an "informant" for Celestia. Not that she would give anything away, there was nothing left to give. She had confessed to everything as soon as she regained consciousness after the human defeated her.

"Bronze Gear."

The voice was closer this time. Speaking almost directly into her ear. She knew who it was, what she didn't know, or have any explanation to, is how he got into her cell. She rolled over on her cot to face the intruder.

"Sandcroft." She dry-swallowed when the words left her lips. Even after all the time, and the silence from him, he still chilled her down to the bones. Despite his friendly/normal enough appearance, there was an air about him that unnerved her. She didn't know why he was there to visit, but she knew that she would find out one way or another.

"Glad to see that you're awake. I don't have too much time to chat, so I'll get straight to the point." He took a quick moment to fix the top hat resting upon his head. "The one who defeated you, his name is Lucien. He's still relatively new to this world, but even so, he's a threat. A man of considerable power, and one that should be taken seriously, as carefree and idiot as he seems."

"I thought you said you would get to the point quickly," interrupted an annoyed Bronze Gear. She was afraid her little outburst might have pushed too far, but all the pony did was crack a small smile.

"Of course, I'm sure you have many important things to do in this cell. Please, no more interruptions, my information is important, and you must hear it."

That stung her pride, but she tried to hide it. "Alright, I'm listening."

"As I was saying, Lucien is a force to be reckoned with. You stood no chance against him in single combat, even though you disabled his magic usage before the fight began. He is well aware of how to use the weapons he wields, and that goes double for his skills in magic. The events of today make that even more apparent . . ." he trailed off, then noticed the confused expression on Bronze's face. "I suppose an explanation is in order, which is good because that's why I'm here.

"Just a few minutes ago, a battle in Ponyville was concluded. Lucien and a few of his pony friends, including Twilight Sparkle, faced down a considerably large number of enemies foreign to this world. Lucien was able to slay an impressive number, and their queen, by himself. His actions made me reconsider certain things, and it unfortunately brought something to the Princess' attention.

"The spike in magic usage in Equestria fluxed after Lucien expended such a large amount of mana in the fight, and it enabled unicorn scanners here in Canterlot to read their statistics clearer than usual. The easiest way I can put this so that you can understand is that the forces of the Princess are now 'ahead of schedule,' which presents a few notable problems.

"For the moment, they concern my attention, so I won't bother you with the details. What you need to know, however, is that they've located the first of The Engineers." He stopped, waiting for her to respond.

"I planned for this, though. They were supposed to surface eventually . . ." she said, unsure of the words even as they came out of her mouth.

"Yes, they were supposed to surface, eventually. As I said before, they are ahead of schedule, which puts us in the current situation. Tomorrow they will journey here to speak with you. The largest of their demands will be clarification of what the spikes in magic exactly are. They will not harm you, so have no fear, but they will be persistent in their questioning."

"How much do they know? And what Engineer did they notice?" Worry was apparent on her face, despite the blue pony's reassurances.

"They have pinpointed #2's location. All they know now is that whatever is going on up there, it's using an extremely large amount of mana," he answered, his face blank.

"How much can I tell them?"

"About #2? Anything you wish, besides his project. They'll discover his identity quickly enough regardless. But know that you cannot tell them anything else about the Engineers, especially their projects and locations. #2 will be cut from the group, and all communications will be cut off immediately. They must not find out about the others until they are prepared." His ears suddenly twitched and he looked off to the bars of Bronze's cell.

Bronze turned her head to the side and sighed. "I know. But how much can I tell them about you-"

He was gone.

She sighed again. "I guess I should be used to that at this point, but it still comes as a surprise each time."

Just then, a guard burst into her cell's room with his weapon drawn. "Halt! In the name of the Day Guard, I order you that you- what?" his spear lowered as he noticed that no other pony was in the room besides the prisoner he was guarding.

"Hey, stupid, there's nopony in here. Now scram, I'm trying to sleep," she barked.

He took notice of her and banged the butt of his spear against the bars. "No talking," he said sternly.

Bronze rolled her eyes. "Duh, that's what I'm saying. I want to get some shut-eye, so get outta here," she snarled.

The guard backed out of the room menacingly, never breaking eye contact until the door shut and his face was obscured.

Bronze Gear immediately stood up and picked up a chunk of rock that had come loose from the stone wall behind her. She started to sketch out something on the cell floor, something that would definitely make the ponies curious. And, more importantly, it would ensure that Sandcroft would be kept on their radar.

"When do we leave?" Lucien asked Princess Celestia.

"We currently have her locked up in a cell under the palace, so she won't be going anywhere, but I fear that we are 'on the clock' as of now, so I suggest we leave soon," she responded ominously.

"Alright. I need to go visit Mayor Mare quickly, she said she needed to speak with me." Lucien stood up on tired legs and groaned. "I'll be back in five minutes," he said over his shoulder. The sound of the door closing echoed through the otherwise silent library.

"Princess, what's going on?" Twilight asked.

"I'm not sure, but I know that it isn't good. I cannot recall a time where so many magic surges occurred. We need to find out what's going on and put a stop to it immediately," the mare said firmly.

"Have you pinpointed any of the locations yet?"

"Yes. After what occurred here in Ponyville, our unicorn scanners were able to narrow down one of the areas to one city in particular. However, the result baffles me entirely."

"Baffles you? How?"

"Answer me this, Twilight. This is the greatest surge in magic that I've seen since the day I took you in as my student. It should take a large team of magically adept unicorns to create fluxes this big. So tell me how is it that the magical surge is taking place in Cloudsdale."

"Mayor?" A light blue pegasus poked his head through the door to Mayor Mare's office. She paused in her paperwork, pen mid-stroke. She removed her glasses and looked up.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Lucien is here to see you," he responded, then he held the door wider to let the human through.

"Ah, good, Lucien. How are you?" Mayor Mare asked with a smile.

"Actually, I'm in a bit of a rush right now, can we make this brief?" he said.

She blinked. "Well, of course. I'll get straight to the point then." She leaned forward in her chair and gestured to one in front of her. Once Lucien was seated, a bit uncomfortably, she spoke again. "What happened?" she said simply, hooves open in a half-shrug.

"My world sent its regards. The girls and I got back here from investigating a disturbance in the Everfree and we ran into a few monsters from my world." He shuddered at the memory of the Revenant. "When we arrived in town, I could tell something was off, and we discovered from Bottom Line that the Filth, another type of monster from my world, had taken root here. So we took care of it." He paused for a moment, wondering what else to say. "Violently," he added finally.

"Glad to hear that it's all gone. Will it happen again?" she asked.

"With any luck, no. I don't know how they got here, I just know that they are here. And I nor the Princesses have detected anything wrong with the natural field around the planet, so I'm hoping that this is the last we'll hear from my world." He gave a small smile.

"Well, this has been a bit odd. Ponyville residents are typically used to strange occurrences, most likely because of the Elements of Harmony, but this pushed the boundaries very far. I'm just glad nopony was injured. Which brings me to my other question." A pause. "If something like this were to happen again, how would we defend ourselves?"

"I assume you already have a town evacuation plan?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Good. Drill it. These ponies need to know where to go in case of emergency. We're just lucky that it wasn't something worse than the Filth. Otherwise, hiding behind locked doors and boarded windows works wonders."

"Of course. I'll call a town meeting as soon as the weather clears up. You're free to go." And with that, she donned her glasses again and went back to the paperwork.

Lucien exited the building and headed straight back to the treehouse on weary legs.

The door opened, letting in a bit of snowdrift that quickly melted in the heat. Lucien tracked a bit of snow in on his boots that quickly evaporated. "Alright, I suppose we should go now," he called out to the group of ponies sitting around the main room.

"Excellent," said Princess Celestia as she rose to her full height. "The carriage is parked outside, I'm sure you saw it."

"Giant white and gold ball-thing? Yeah, I saw it."

"Let us depart while we still have time." She walked to the door and a guardspony jumped in and opened it up for her.

"Wait, we aren't coming?" Twilight asked her mentor just before she walked out.

"No, Twilight, as it stands I only require Lucien. I believe it best that he speaks with Bronze Gear. You and the other Elements should stay here and rest. I know that fight must have been taxing on you all."

Twilight sighed, her ears drooping slightly. "Alright Princess. We'll go take a rest." Her eyes shifted to the human standing in the doorway. "Lucien, good luck."

Author's Notes:

I fought tooth and nail with my mind to decide if I was going to leave it off here. Now I'm left making the decision to make this chapter a transition to the interrogation with Bronze Gear. That one will probably end up being longer than this.

Plus, that next one is the real transition into the second arc, this has been an introductory intermission of sorts.

Thanks for reading!

P.S.
I edited the third part of Chapter 19 to make it a bit more realistic. It doesn't impact the story in a major way, but check it out if you wish.

Short: The Horror Before Hearth's Warming

"Twilight!" Lucien called as he burst through the library door, flinging snow all over the floor in his motions.

"What!" she yelled back, startled by his sudden entry.

"I can't stop twerking! Something's wrong with me!" he practically screamed. Upon looking at his rear end, Twilight surmised that he was speaking the truth. His ass was shaking up and down, almost rhythmically. Her pupils grew almost as large as her eyes, and she was unable to look away.

"Twilight? What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?!" He craned his neck over his shoulder to see that her face had gone blank. Her rump was starting to bounce slightly. "Oh no . . ." He watched as she stood up and kept her flank moving. "Not you too!" he screamed in agony, moving to run out of the library and away from his butt.

He ran through Ponyville, twerking the whole time, Twilight right behind him. His movements kicked up snow everywhere, attracting the glances of ponies passing by. Upon seeing his mesmerizing ass, they two were taken under the spell of the twerk. By the time he had reached the marketplace, a mass of at least 50 ponies was twerking with him.

He looked about frantically, searching for anything that could help him. "Applejack!" he called out to the marketplace, attracting the stares of even more ponies. They too began to twerk mindlessly. He waded through the crowd, searching for the pony. "Applejack, don't look at me!"

"Whut!" called a familiar voice from outside the crowd of twerking ponies.

"I said don't look at me, it might get you too!" Lucien screamed out.

"Lucien, Ah don't git a word that you're sayin-" she made the mistake of glimpsing his twerk-liscious ass through the throng of ponies that he had amassed.

"NO! APPLEJACK!" he screamed over the sound of hooves kicking up snow. The group twerked relentlessly, the ponies' relentless stares the only thing keeping him going at that point. "What do I do? There has to be some kind of cure!" he thought. But what if there isn't? Maybe this is just the way it'll happen. Never thought I'd go like this, twerking. Maybe I should just make the best of it by ruining it for everyone else on this planet. That sounds like fun."

With his new resolve in mind, and a purpose in his life again, he took his army of twerking ponies and freaked his way to the train station. It just so happened that the train was boarding, and the conductor was blissfully unaware of the twerkness going on in the cars behind him.

They arrived in Canterlot quickly, and Lucien captured the conductor in his twerk. He smiled evilly and let out a dark chuckle. "Soon all shall fall to me!"

The nearby ponies who were waiting to board the train heard his outburst and quickly fell in line among the mindless masses. His army numbered well over 400 at that point, just enough to go on a twerking rampage through the city.

They worked their way through, grinding on storefronts and light posts, entrancing any who stood to oppose his twerkiness. Eventually they made their way to the palace gates, his group numbering well over 1,000 at that point. He twerked open the gates and marched through the hallways of the castle, capturing any maids along the way.

He kicked open the doors to the throne room, and called in to the Princesses, "Honies, I'm home!"

"Lucien, what is the meaning of-" Princess Celestia herself, the most powerful pony on the planet fell prey to his magnificent ass. Luna fell quickly afterward, if not before her sister.

"Yes, my little ponies, don't stop twerking. You know you can't resist." He trailed a finger across the chin of a twerking Princess Luna and slowly leaned in for—

"AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Lucien woke up screaming in his bed. His heart pounded furiously as he began to calm down, coming to terms that it was all just a dream. Really just a nightmare, nothing more. He had experienced worse in his life. He stood up and got out of bed, then walked to the bathroom.

He turned on the sink and splashed some water on his face. His eyes trailed over his scruffy chin and unkempt hair, scrutinizing the detail, even though the ponies wouldn't really care about his appearance. He hardly went out during the Winter months anyway.

At least it was all just a bad dream, and it was over now. He couldn't recall a time where he had so many scares, first the twerking, then the everypony else twerking, then the Canterlot, then Princess Luna—

He looked down to see that his ass had started to shake.

They say his scream could be heard from miles away, or at least that's what it says on the plaque by his statue in the Canterlot Gardens.

Author's Notes:

This might not seem scary to you, but it's terrifying to me.

Chapter 20: Down the Rabbit Hole

The carriage glided through the winter skies with great speed. The guards pulling it were hardly bothered by the harsh winds, due to protective heating spell cast by the Lieutenant Mage before they had departed Canterlot. The snow had stopped falling, leaving behind dark clouds and white powder spread across the land. Lucien and Princess Celestia were the two lone passengers being pulled back to the mountain capital.

Despite how Celestia sort of owed Lucien one for his work with Bronze Gear, he still couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her. He didn't feel it the first two times he had been near her, but she radiated power. To a man like himself, with above average stores of mana, knowing that she could not only match but defeat him in a battle of power frightened him greatly. During his fight with her and Luna when he first arrived in Equestria, he didn't sense how much power she really contained.

Nor in his life had he ever met such a serene deity like her. Sure, he had dealt with a few demigods that had gotten too big for their britches, but Celestia wielded much more power than those, and kept it under strict control as well. To meet an actual goddess was mind-bending to him.

"Princess Celestia?" he started hesitantly.

Her eyes jumped from gazing out the window to looking directly at his eyes. "Yes, Lucien?"

He shifted uncomfortably. "I was wondering . . . thinking, really, about our first 'encounter.'" He held up fingers to make an air quote, and she seemed to understand the meaning of the gesture.

"What is on your mind?" she asked openly, with a neutral face.

"Well, from where I sit here, I can feel how much power you radiate. I can't even compare with it, really. I've never seen reserves of mana as large as yours." He broke off for a moment, unsure of where he wanted to take the conversation.

"Go on," she motioned with a hoof.

"What I want to know is how I was able to defeat you and Princess Luna when you found me in the Everfree Forest," he finally stated.

She nodded, her face adopting a pondering look. After a few moments of consideration, she formulated her response. "My sister and I, we have not experienced open combat in a long time. A very long time. While my reserves are quite great, as you stated, under-use had rendered them in a weaker condition than normal. Luna, if anypony, had the largest reserves in that battle. I am aware of how she spent some of her time on the moon."

"There has to be more to it than that."

"There is. I also believe that we lost due to your . . . unique fighting style. You followed no patterns we recognized, and the magic you control is also much more variable than ours. You caught us by surprise with each attack, most especially the terra-forming. It's not every day that I am surprised by something, you should take pride in it." She looked out the window once again, expecting the conversation to end there.

"But?"

She lifted an eyebrow, but answered anyway. "But, the reason you are sensing my power now is because I have resumed trained once again, just as Luna has, just as my guard has. I have chosen to 'raise the bar' on training for any pony that wishes to become a guard."

"Why?"

Celestia turned her gaze back to Lucien. "I am raising an army. Equestria was unprepared for every disaster that has stricken us since Luna's return. Nightmare Moon, Discord, The Changelings, and even you. Although, I will say that I chose to take care of you without the help of the guard. They weren't yet ready to face down a being of immense power, the kind of being that I suspected you to be."

The carriage began to shake and rumble slightly, signaling that they were close to landing. "A storm is coming, Lucien. A storm of steam and metal. A storm that I have been expecting ever since Bronze Gear unraveled the secrets of the Griffon's armor and began work on her project." The carriage landed, and rolled to a stop. Lucien looked out the window to see that they had landed near the Canterlot Gardens. "The strange part of it all is that I never expected the storm to originate within the borders of my nation."

The doors opened, letting into the carriage beams of bright light. Princess Celestia glanced at Lucien, then began to disembark. "Let's go talk to Bronze Gear."

The cell door creaked open, interrupting the sound of droplets of water plinking on the stone floors. Bronze Gear, dozing in her bunk, perked up as she heard the noise. She sat up, prompting the wires of the cot she was laying on to squeal loudly.

As the heavy wooden door closed shut, it revealed who opened it. Princess Celestia. "Hello again, Bronze," she said neutrally.

"Hmmph. Celestia." Bronze crossed her forelegs and reclined again.

"Why is your mattress on the floor?" she asked, pointing a hoof at the object.

"Because I didn't like it. Are you going to ask another pointless question or can you just get to the point?" she asked bluntly.

Celestia's features hardened slightly. "Very well, if you do not wish to make use of what limited interaction you have, then go ahead," she said, turning around to leave.

Bronze heard hoofsteps retreat, then the door opened once again, only to slam shut a second later. She sighed, wondering what her the purpose of her ex-mentor's visit was.

"Why is your mattress on the floor?" she heard a stallion's voice say. She jerked upright on the cot in surprise, having not heard another entry into her cell. She looked over to the bars and saw-

"That's not a very practical place to put a mattress. Trust me, I should know," said the human, Lucien.

Bronze's face deepened and darkened, her features twisting into a scowl. One look at the creature brought back all the memories of humiliation at her defeat, and a remembrance of exactly how long she had been locked up in the dungeons. "What does it matter to you where I put my mattress?" she spat out with venom.

"Because most people would only move their mattresses in such absurd ways if they wanted to cover something up, and they had nothing else to put over it. I once robbed a great artist and spilled paint on his bedroom carpet. Since there was nothing else to cover the stain, I dragged the mattress off his bed to delay him finding out about being robbed. Naturally, he found out anyway, but I still find it funny to imagine the look on his face when he saw his mattress sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor."

Bronze's eyes narrowed. she took a breath to calm her anger before speaking. "I suppose that does make you an authority on mattress placement. What were you trying to steal from him anyway?" she asked, hoping to drag out the situation and learn as much as she could about the mage and why Sandcroft considered him so dangerous.

"An enchanted canvas. It lets you travel to the Ink Zone. Also, it's not 'tried to steal,' it's 'stole.' I got it from him without much difficulty."

"And did you travel to the 'Ink Zone'?" she asked out of genuine curiosity.

"Yes, I did, actually. Horrid place. Filled with these disgusting creatures I named Ink Abominations. Let me just-" he pulled off his backpack, and before she could ask what he was doing, he took out a notebook and flipped to a page. He showed her a picture of one of the Abominations, a small mass of ink that had formed legs and short arms. It appeared to crouch low to the ground and use its legs for movement while attacking with its stubby arms. This information she gained, of course, from reading the description at the bottom of the page.

"Those things came from everywhere. The whole world, as far as I could tell, was completely white. Just a blank canvas where the Abominations could leave their stains. Only way I could navigate was by killing Abominations and then taking their arms and legs to paint my way through the world. After a while of wandering and slaying, the colors reversed. Suddenly I was running up an endless white staircase, surrounded by a black void. Fought tooth and nail against those Abominations while sprinting for my life up those stairs." He paused. "Wanna know the scariest part?" he asked.

"What?"

"Sometimes, while I was running up those stairs, I could hear footsteps. Sometimes coming from up the staircase, sometimes coming from down the staircase. But the worst was when the steps were passing on the flip side of the stairs. And it happened all too often." He stopped, letting his eyes wander around the room as he traveled back through his memories.

"How did you get out?" Bronze asked, now pulled in by the story.

Lucien looked up at her, as if he had forgotten that she was there. "Reached the top eventually. Whitewash room with the painter sitting in a chair watching a giant crystal ball. Turns out he had been watching me the entire time, controlling the abominations . . ." he broke off, eyes gazing vacantly through the small window in the otherwise dark cell room.

"So how did you get out?" Bronze asked again, a bit impatiently this time.

His attention snapped back to her readily. A sad smile grew on his face as he talked to her. "I took my knife and drove it through his eye. Then I shattered his crystal ball, took his paintbrush, and left through another canvas hanging on the wall while the entire place got washed away like ink in the rain." His smile never reached his eyes.

Bronze's opinion of him took a complete 180. She went from considering him as a lucky idiot to a deranged wizard. Her surprise must have been obvious on her face, because Lucien chuckled slightly, a deep sound. "I know," he said, "It surprised me too."

His chuckles subsided over the next few moments. "So." he held his right arm out, prompting a cylinder of stone to rise out of the ground below his hand. He took a seat and looked at her. "Why am I here, crazy?" he smiled warmly.

She took a brief moment to get over her surprise at his statements and actions before responding. "I wanted to talk to you," she said simply.

"C'mon, there's more to it than that. I'm listening," Lucien retorted.

"I'm ready to tell you answers about what's going on," she explained.

Lucien leaned forward on his stone stool, the statement catching his interest. "Please, go on."

"I'm sure you remember what I ranted about after you," she acted as if she was swallowing a bug, "defeated me a few months ago?" she began a bit reluctantly.

"I do. A bunch of stuff about a 'new age' and all that."

"Well, now I'm telling you that it's starting. Of course you already know this by now and-"

"Wait, wait, wait, what?" he stood up in surprise.

"You didn't know? I guess his information was off . . ." she murmured.

"Of course I didn't know! What made you think that I, of all people, would know?" he gestured wildly, her last statement not reaching his ears.

"People?" Bronze raised an eyebrow, but didn't question it further. "And this is really your first time hearing this?"

He nodded emphatically.

"Ah ha ha!" she laughed, throwing her head back. "You are this far down the rabbit hole, and you don't even know where it goes! Here I was thinking that you actually had at least an iota of an idea of what's actually going on here!" She smiled at him mockingly, before relaxing her expression and calming down, choosing not to anger him further.

"That's alright though, because that's why I'm talking to you now. That spike of magical energy that you probably just pinpointed to be in Cloudsdale?"

Lucien nodded.

"That's #2. The idiot was supposed to keep his head down and not get noticed for at least another few months, long enough for #1 to get ready," she explained.

"Who's #1?" Lucien asked.

"That's the wrong question, try again." Bronze said with a smirk.

Lucien rolled his eyes and tried again. "Who's #2?"

"That's correct. #2 is Ironwing, a griffon with a mean streak a couple miles long. Featherbrain makes me look as kind as Celestia . . ." she trailed off.

"Explain," Lucien ordered, his smile and light attitude gone.

"Ironwing is an old bird. Been living in Cloudsdale for a good few months now. I met him on one of my trips to the Griffon Empire a couple of years ago. We got into an argument over the practicality of spring hinges over coil hinges. Next thing I knew, he was asking me to go for a drink and I was saying yes." She sighed. "Our mindsets were almost identical, and I took a real liking to him. Helps that he was excellent in bed too . . ." she trailed off again, this time her mind going in a different direction entirely.

"Bronze, stay focused. What else about Ironwing?" Lucien derailed his train of thought before the rails had a chance to take his mind there.

"Hmm? Oh. Anyway, I left back to Equestria to continue work on my projects, and we reconnected when he moved into Cloudsdale. I sent a letter to him about my plans the night Celestia fired me, and he wanted in. So I sent him the details, and he's been preparing ever since."

"That's it? What else about him?" Lucien prodded for more information.

"If you want the details of how he was in bed, then keep asking me that. I'll give you his address and permit you one more question," she said, eager to end the conversation.

Lucien's face turned red. "That won't be necessary," he stated, then he thought about what to ask her. After pondering for a few moments, he decided to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind since he cleared her house the day of their fight. "What happened to all the blueprints at your house? We found a note, but nothing else."

"That's the right question," she said, then stood up without another word. Before Lucien could ask what she was doing, she kicked aside the mattress to reveal a large spade etched crudely into the floor. "I'm not sure who he is, or what he wants, but he's involved alright. Don't leave him out of the picture."

"So what do we know so far about this Sandcroft?" Lucien asked Celestia. After he had finished with Bronze, he went upstairs to meet her in her private study. The two sat on cushions while discussing the subject at hand over tea that Celestia had prepared. Just because she was a Princess didn't mean that she needed a pony to brew her tea for her.

"Next to nothing. I have no evidence of him ever being born or doing anything in Equestria. I keep dated files on each resident of my country in the Archives, down beneath the Palace Library. Any criminal record goes there, along with proof of purchases for land and other such things. If he owned a stall in the Market as you say, then it was never recorded here. All we know is what you have seen and what Bronze has told you," Celestia said, sipping her tea throughout.

Lucien rubbed at his scruffy chin. "He's connected to this. He was Bronze's benefactor and he's the one that moved all of her blueprints from her basement. But he gave me an Arcadium crystal for almost nothing. It's like he's playing for both teams. But what does he have to gain from this?" Lucien asked openly. "Discord could be involved here. Sandcroft may be another one of his vessels. He's tried it before," he said.

Princess Celestia smiled. "I see you have done your research. But I do not believe this is Discord's doing. His stirrings are much louder, and his plans act out on a larger scale. This is too subtle for him. I am convinced that Sandcroft is an outside force, possible from one of Equestria's border countries. It wouldn't be above the Griffon Empire or the Minotaur Kingdom to send in a pony spy to check our government's progress."

"But then Sandcroft would be closer to you, and closer to the governing system. He's too isolated as it stands to get reliable information from you and your advisers. But then what does that leave? He obviously doesn't belong in Equestria..." Lucien trailed off.

Princess Celestia raised a wing. "I suggest that we turn our focus on Ironwing. He is currently the largest threat to Equestrian society, and he must be dealt with posthaste. But, I also recommend that we do as Bronze said and not forget about Sandcroft. He had motives, but they are unclear now. After Ironwing is dealt with, Sandcroft's identity may become more clear."

Lucien thought about it for a few moments, weighing his following actions carefully. "Alright," he said a bit reluctantly, "I agree. Ironwing is the larger problem now. What are we going to do about him?" he asked, beginning to pace around the room, forgetting his tea.

"I pulled his file too while searching the Archives. Bronze's information was accurate, he immigrated into Equestria a few months ago, and immediately bought property in Cloudsdale. I was able to gather from my alternate sources that he was second in command at a large corporation in the Griffon Empire called Skyline. He worked as a consultant VP and has received the highest education in Mechanical Engineering. Where the money came from to attend university there is unknown, but it was an extremely large sum. He has been marked multiple times for instigating brawls, mostly outside bars in Cloudsdale. His record stretches on from there, most charges concerned with brawling and the occasional vandalism. He has not, however, been convicted for these actions. Each time he was able to escape incarceration by the judge making a sudden decision to give him bail. My guess is that bribery played a role in that, as no judge I know would ever dismiss such charges so easily."

"So this guy is a certifiable genius, most likely has fighting skills, and has politicians in his pocket?" Celestia nodded. "And, on top of that already impressive list, he has Bronze Gear's blueprints?" Celestia nodded again, prompting Lucien to rub his temples. "Fantastic . . ." He stopped pacing after a moment, and put his hands on the table, leaning on his arms heavily. He looked up at the goddess and asked, "What are we going to do?"

Celestia set her teacup down and put a hoof to her chin in thought. "Before any decisions are made, I would like to speak with Luna about this. I fear that she has been left out of these matters for too long, and I would like to inform her on the matter at hand. She has dealt with one such issue before, and her experience may prove useful."

Lucien nodded and sat down, picking up his tea in a magical grasp. He let his hand stay vertical and allowed the teacup to revolve around it in lazy circles while Celestia exited the room.

He was alone for only a few minutes before he heard shouting come from through the door. He stood up in confusion, then walked over to find out what was going on. As he got closer, he could make out two guards trying to calm down what sounded like a very upset stallion.

"I don't care who she's meeting with, I will see my aunt now!" Just before Lucien could grasp the handles of the doors, they flew open, causing him to stumble backward.

Standing in the doorway was an obviously well-groomed stallion with a white coat and a blonde mane. He sneered at Lucien momentarily before calling out to the otherwise empty room, "Auntie! Where are you?"

Lucien decided to reply, seeing as the guards were nowhere to be found after the stallion had burst in. "She's not here. She went to go get Princess Luna."

"I wasn't talking to you, commoner. Auntie!" He brushed past Lucien and started to look around the room, as if she was hiding on top of a bookcase or behind the curtains.

Lucien was taken aback by the stallion's actions, but was able to place his identity. That was the pony that Rarity spoke about when the two went out to lunch a few weeks before, the snooty prince, Blueblood. "I'm sorry you didn't hear me the first time, your highness, but she isn't here." This time his words held more force.

Blueblood spun around to face him. "I'm sorry? Did you say something? I couldn't hear it over the sound of how ugly you are." He resumed looking about the room.

Lucien crossed his arms and raised one eyebrow. "That's not the first time I've heard that one," he thought, unimpressed. But he had dealt with such people before, ones who thought they owned the world. You just had to know how to push their buttons. He crept up behind the pony as silently as he could, then screamed, "I'M SORRY MY UGLINESS IS SO DEAFENING, BUT I WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT THE PRINCESS ISN'T HERE!" directly into his ear.

Blueblood leapt several feet into the air in surprise and shock. When he finally came down, he looked jarred, and several hairs were out on place in his otherwise kempt mane. "Well- I," he stammered before regaining control. He walked over to the other side of the table and faced Lucien before speaking again. "I heard you that time, peasant. You nearly destroyed my hearing." He smirked. "I feel that the dungeons are a perfectly acceptable place for you after that outburst. Guards!" he called.

The doors opened, allowing in two royal guardsponies. They began to approach Lucien after Blueblood pointed an accusing hoof at him. Lucien put his one hand in his pocket, then lifted the other, palm facing Blueblood. The guards saw this and stopped. Lucien glanced over his shoulder and looked at the pair from out the corner of his eye. His gaze returned to Blueblood afterward, whose face had grown into a disapproving frown.

"Guards! Did you not hear me!? I said to arrest this- this abomination!" Blueblood shouted.

Lucien kept his hand up, and the corners of his mouth slowly grew into a smile. "I'm sorry, Prince Blueblood, but it seems that the guards like me just a bit more than they like you."

"Wha- but-" he spluttered before regaining control once again. His nose stuck up in the air and he struck an elegant pose. "Do know exactly who I am?" he asked, eyes closed, holding the pose.

"That's the wrong question," came Lucien's confident reply.

"Then what, pray tell, is the right question?" Blueblood swept a hoof out in a grand gesture.

"The question you should be asking right now is if you know who I am."

"You're Auntie's pet monkey, obviously. Not fit to even look at the ground that I walk on."

"Incorrect. I am Lucien the Magician."

"What does that mean to me?"

"That means that I have done more in my short time in Equestria than you have your entire life. Part of the reason that the guards aren't arresting me is because I'm one of the only beings to defeat the Princesses in combat. Add that to the fact that I personally defended Canterlot against Bronze Gear, who also almost murdered Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student. Basically, I'm kind of a big deal."

Blueblood, if it was possible, turned even whiter than before. "You're- you're lying. Nopony could defeat the Princesses. You're making this all up. I bet that 'Copper Gear' or whatever his name was doesn't even exist!" His smirk grew large once again, confident in his assumptions.

"Actually, Bronze Gear is currently residing in the dungeons, where I put her. You can go ahead and check when we're done here. And if you don't believe that I fought the Princesses and won, then how can we be having this conversation?" Lucien pointed out, letting his hand fall to his side. Blueblood didn't notice that the hand in his pocket glowed slightly, and a small kink rolled up in the rug in front of Blueblood's hooves.

"Fine! I'll go speak with Celestia, and when she tells me that everything you just said is a lie, then you'll be thrown in the dungeon!"

"Who's getting thrown in the dungeon?" Princess Celesia's voice came from the open doorway. Luna trailed a ways behind her, rubbing her eyes.

"This disgusting creature before me said he defeated you once and that he defended Canterlot from some 'Bronze Screw' character. It's obviously all lies, so I'll just have the guards-"

"Those statements are all accurate," Celestia interrupted.

Blueblood's face turned red, and it looked like his head was filling up with hot air. "But-"

"Lucien did defeat Luna and I when he first arrived on this world, and Bronze Gear is currently residing in the dungeons. I count him as a friend of mine, and I trust him as much as I would trust an adviser." Lucien smiled at her in surprise, but didn't say anything. "Now, Prince Blueblood, I will warn you once again to not insult guests that are brought in for council meetings, however amusing their appearance seems to you. You may just end up saying the wrong thing to the wrong emissary."

Blueblood lowered into a bow, almost knocking his horn into the table before him. "I apologize, Auntie. I overstepped my boundaries. I apologize, Lucien. I'll be leaving now."

But Blueblood still didn't notice the bump on the rug. His hoof caught it, and the force caused the table to shift suddenly, spilling cold tea from Lucien's half-full cup all over Blueblood's pristine white coat. His shoulder stained a light brown, and he looked upon it, stunned that such a thing could happen.

Lucien and Luna, in the meantime, were having a difficult time not bursting out into laughter. Lucien kept a neutral face while a hoof immediately snapped up to Luna's muzzle. Blueblood, however, wasn't laughing. He screamed like a filly and sprinted out of the room, no doubt heading straight for the nearest bathroom.

Following his abrupt exit, the guards departed the room and left Lucien alone with the Princesses. As soon as the door shut, he and Luna burst out into laughter. Even Celestia allowed herself a smile.

After the two had finished laughing, and the echoes of the noise died down, Celestia spoke. "I swear by me, that pony is going to start a war someday."

The comment elicited several chuckles from the gathered company. Lucien and Luna took their respective seats on either side of the table. Lucien picked up his teacup and filled it up by magically pouring tea from the kettle. After feeling that it had gone cold again, he quickly poured it back into the kettle. He held his palm under the teapot and a small flame issued forth, steadily heating the brew up again.

"Lucien," Celestia started, getting the mage's attention. "I would also like to advise you to not get into verbal, or especially physical, fights with the nobility. Even I wouldn't be able to save you from going into the dungeon."

Lucien took the words to heart. "Of course. I was only having a bit of fun. It's not often that you come across ponies that are that into themselves." His words caused Luna to snort in amusement.

"I take it that you informed her of the situation at han- hoof?" he quickly caught his mistake.

"I have. Luna?"

Luna cleared her throat. "As I'm sure my sister has told you, I have had to deal with an enemy of the political variety once before. I've been told of your knowledge on our country's history, I'm certain you recall the tale of Fine Finance?"

Lucien thought for a moment before answering. "I don't think I remember that one. Can you tell me what happened?"

Luna nodded. "Of course. I'm quite happy to share. Fine Finance was the CEO of an extremely large corporation that emerged a few years before I turned. After running the company with great success, we began to notice that the company was buying out other smaller businesses for extremely low prices.The owners of said businesses tended to disappear from the country a short time afterward. We found it to be suspicious, but nothing could be proven. After a few more incidents, and several court cases that were dismissed by judges, we knew for certain that he was guilty of extortion. But, we couldn't touch him due to the corporation he headed, and the lack of evidence we had against him."

"So what did you do?" asked Lucien.

"We allowed it to continue for another few weeks. We planted guards in the businesses that were being bought up by Fine Finance's corporation, and they each reported that employees of Finance's company had visited and successfully threatened the owners of that company. We received numerous magical recordings as proof, and we took Finance to court. T'was a memorable case, to be sure. Lasted only one week, due to the fact that the evidence against Finance's actions came in quickly and stacked up neatly. Some of the ousted families returned to testify, so Finance now sits out in the left wing of the garden, under the name of Greed."

Lucien sat still for a moment, thinking things over. "So we're facing a similar enemy here. One who carries a lot of political power and a lot of money. And all the evidence that we have against him is what Bronze said, and that a large spike of magic registered in the area of the entire city that he lives in."

"Yes, that would be correct," supplied Celestia.

"So what do we do now?" Lucien asked.

"Now, we wait."

Author's Notes:

I thought that we've been having a lot of serious chapters going on lately, so here's a few lighter moments. Doesn't everybody just love Blueblood?

Chapter 21: Ironwing

Clouds of smoke drifted lazily up to the ceilings of the room. The afternoon light shone directly through the open windows of the house, illuminating the many works of art and statues that had been placed throughout the halls with care. The floors of the place glinted with the sunlight, threatening to shine in the eyes of the owner of the house.

Ironwing chuckled as the smoke clouds he blew disappeared through the ceiling of the cloud house. But it wouldn't be fair to call it just a house. Where he lived deserved the title of mansion, even by the standards of extravagant pegasi houses.

He was reclining on a sofa, colored stormy gray to match the semi-solid walls of the place he owned. His head had been aching with stress, so he had taken a break from work to have a smoke and lay down. It wasn't very often that he got good, restful sleep, due to the amount of managing work he had to keep up with. It was all very difficult at times, but the benefits far outweighed the hardships.

The tip of his cigar smoldered, approaching the moment he would be forced to put it out. He chuckled once. It wouldn't be terribly difficult for him to just toss it through the clouds to the ground below. He propped himself up with an elbow and a groan, his slightly bloodshot eyes scanning the room.

Anti-climatically finding absolutely nothing wrong, he got up and walked down the hallway to go deeper into the household. He passed by statues, paintings of his forefathers, and old suits of armor fitted for ponies. He had never liked those, but only kept them because they frightened guests even more then they did him.

He passed by a mirror and took a glance into its silvery depths. Equally silver irises met his gaze. His eyes flicked over his form, down from the weathered bronze goggles on his head, past the once-black head feathers that were now gray, beyond the tan leather jacket and the brown lion body underneath. He unfurled a graying wing and fixed some bent feathers with a quick flap. The motion caused a small clinking noise to emit from his jacket's pocket. He grimaced, feeling the slight weight of the item he carried. It wasn't much of a physical burden, but the mental one was always present in his thoughts.

He tore his eyes from the looking-glass and continued down the hallway. Smaller windows lined up neatly with the suits of armor, keeping the corridor illuminated. Unlit torches hung in sconces above the suits, ready to be lit at sundown. Electricity was still not in common circulation, and Ironwing was always a bit old-fashioned, so he decided to keep firelight in favor of electric.

He reached the end of the hall, stopped by a great cloudstone door. With a small amount of effort, he tugged it open. Cloudstone was a great resource to have for solid surfaces and he was glad he had gone through with developing the process, but sometimes he just wished it didn't weigh as much. Doors made strictly of unrefined clouds were so much lighter and let more sun through than cloudstone.

He passed into the next room, this one completely devoid of windows. It was completely dark, save for the small sliver of light that passed through the crack in the door and the tiny amount of illumination that the tip of his still-burning cigar let off. With a pace hastened by growing nerves, he removed the cigar from his mouth and pressed it to a spot on the wall. There was a spark as the cigar went out and something else lit up. A trail of fire worked its way down the wall and illuminated his way through the room.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't publicly known, in fact it was known by only one other being, that he happened to be diagnosed with achluophobia, a pathological fear of the darkness, and what lurks inside of it. He had hoped that by living in a spacious house in the brightest city in the country that he would be able to forget about the fear. Naturally, it hadn't worked out, so he decided that if he constantly exposed himself to it, he would be able to get over it. He thought it might be working but he wasn't completely sure. It wasn't like he was a doctor or anything.

He made his way through the mostly empty room, an involuntary shiver running down his spine caused by the lack of illumination. The flames offered to light his way, but they didn't dispel the shadows that remained in the corners of the ceilings. He crossed the floor quickly, making way directly for a bookshelf that covered the entire back wall.

He lifted a claw and pulled on a book. The section of shelf he was standing on rotated 180 degrees, and he was suddenly ushered into a new area completely. In there, the only source of illumination was a magnified lantern to shine a concentrated light around. The walls were made of stormy-gray unrefined clouds, and the only was forward was deeper into the cloud.

He started to walk, thinking about his entrance. The "book-switch" was a little cliché, but he was a bit old-fashioned. He had no doubts it was overdone and tacky, but who would know but him? It's not like he made the room into a deathtrap or anything. At least he thought he didn't.

He reached the end of the hall and set the lantern at his talons and paws. He wouldn't need it anymore. A heavy cloudstone door blocked his way. An indent was in place on the front of it, and he lifted his right claw to place it there. His claw fit perfectly, of course, and he twisted to the left, activating gears within the walls. The door swung open slowly, revealing a spacious, electrically-lit chamber.

Several jump-suited pegasus ponies and assorted griffins paused in their work to look at him. The ones closest saluted, while the ones further away just went back to work. The sound of hammers banging on metal echoed in the area, and the smells of sawdust and ash filled the nostrils of all present. In a futile attempt to filter the bad air, the workers wore bandannas over their muzzles or beaks.

Ironwing swiftly walked over to the center of the chamber, looking for a specific pony. "Steam Gauge, where are you?!" he called to the room. All the workers stopped immediately upon hearing their boss' voice. The sound of papers rustling came from nearby. Then, a small pegasus bolted in front of Ironwing with a hoof snapped in a salute.

"Right here, uh, sir," the meek pegasus said, nervously fixing his wire-rimmed glasses.

"Are we on schedule?" Ironwing asked, eyes ahead as he began walking around the room.

"To the best of my knowledge, yes, but-"

"There is a 'but'?" Ironwing chuckled. "How can there be a 'but'? I asked a yes or no question." Ironwing's eyebrows narrowed.

"But the metal shaping is requiring much more energy than we had anticipated. We've had to use nearly double the amount of bottles of Liquid Magic than we had originally anticipated. And we are starting to get worried that it will attract unwanted attention." He said the last part in a harsh whisper.

"Listen to me, Steam Gauge," he grabbed the pony by the crown of his head and spun his head to look him directly in the eyes. "I hired you because you were right for the job, correct? You said so yourself." The pony nodded, his head bobbing so quickly it seemed as if it would fall off. "Which means that, now, you need to do your job, and keep us on schedule!"

The pony nodded wildly and scrambled backward quickly, hooves kicking up little puffs of clouds as he turned tail and ran to get back to work. Ironwing watched as he began pointing and yelling at a few workers hammering out metal plates to hurry up.

Ironwing coughed once and ran a claw through his head feathers, smoothing the ones that had moved out of place. He breathed out slowly, attempting to curb his growing sense of paranoia. He had a feeling that something was off. He couldn't quite put his talon on it, but there was something out of place in his workshop.

He turned around and looked several of the forges that sat in the corners of the room. Each sat on solid cloudstone and flared with heat, painting the blast-shielded faces of the workers a bright orange. He gazed into the shadows behind them and noticed something. A faint glow standing out from the rest of the darkness.

He walked towards it, slightly alarmed. As he got closer, he began to make the shape out more clearer. It was a spade, glowing a very faint green. It offset the storm clouds that made up the uneven face of the wall that it was above. The thing was sideways, the tip pointing off to the left.

Ironwing's blood began to pump in a sort of nervous excitement. He recognized that symbol, and he knew exactly what it meant. He was going to meet with the one who had made his life possible. He looked to the left and saw a cloudstone door inset in a bulge in the cloud wall. Heart beating quickly, he walked to the door and opened it after making sure no one was looking.

Light assailed his eyes as he tried to adjust to the sudden change in setting. It was strange that he hadn't gotten used to it at that point, given the amount of times that he's opened that door, wherever it was located. He recalled a time once where he opened it in the middle of a dinner party. Frightened the guests in an exceptional way.

The light dimmed and he took a look around. It was the same room as it had been each time, whitewash walls, vertical windows with harsh light coming through them, colored banners with strange symbols on them hanging from the ceiling, and the ominous ebony meeting table in the center. A top-hatted, vested blue stallion stood with his back to Ironwing, his eyes fixed on a point somewhere outside the window, though Ironwing couldn't see past the light.

"Sandy!" Ironwing called, claws spread out while standing on his hind legs.

The blue colt turned around, a small smile on his face. "Hello, Iron, it's been some time."

Ironwing started to cross the room. "It's been a while, hasn't it?" he asked while draping an arm over the pony's back. "What are you looking at?" he asked, trying to peer into the light. "I can't see anything at all."

Sandcroft chuckled, turning his head to look Ironwing in the eyes. "Many can't see through the light, most never do." His gaze turned away from Iron and went back to the window. He sighed, almost wistfully. "I always was a lucky one..." he trailed off. His eyes flicked to the ground briefly and then he stepped backward, out of Ironwing's friendly embrace. "But enough of that, sit down." He waved a hoof to the table that sat before them.

"Of course, of course." Ironwing sat at one end of the table, as he always did. Sandcroft crossed to the opposite end and did the same. "So what is the news, my friend? Must be something big if you are coming to visit."

"It is a bit of a pressing matter." His hoof disappeared under the table briefly, then returned holding a folder. "Have a look," he said, sliding the object across the smooth surface of the table.

Ironwing stopped it with a talon and picked it up. As he leafed through the contents, his right eyebrow elevated slowly.

"I think your eyebrow is trying to escape," Sandcroft remarked.

Ironwing attempted to look up at his own eyebrows for a moment before a smile took over his face. "Aha, clever as always I see, Sandy." His brows narrowed and his gaze hardened. "But this information, it concerns me. Bronze, captured? What exactly happened?"

Sandcroft stood up and began to pace around the room. "Bronze got too cocky. She believed she was ready to fight Twilight Sparkle, for reasons she did not fully understand. And just as it happened before in the past, she did not complete her research before diving in, head first," he said ominously.

His pacing stopped. "But it doesn't matter now. That's all in the past, this is what's happening now." He took a few steps toward Ironwing and put a cold hoof on his shoulder. "You were always my favorite, between the three of you. And now she has done something that put our entire goal at risk, even if she didn't realize it at the time."

Ironwing looked up at the pony, a look of half curiosity, half agitation. "Sandy, you've changed, what has happened?"

His question was met with a small false smile. "Bronze has taken steps to make sure that I am not 'out of the picture' of the princesses and the magician. Not to mention that now they are suspicious of you now. They are months ahead of schedule, and that is not good." There was a hard edge to his voice, something that was definitely not present the last time Ironwing had met with him.

"And so what am I supposed to do about it?" he asked, feeling a bit risky. He got the feeling that he was treading on thin ice, and he wanted to make sure he didn't set off the blue stallion.

Sandcroft stopped and took a breath. He set his hat on the table and smoothed his mane back with a hoof. "I want you to get your lawyers and tie up every single loose end in Skyline Corporation. It needs to be waterproof; the princesses cannot pin you in the social game. But that also means that you need to take measures to make sure that our project is not leaked by some loose-lipped pony or griffon. Hire a few unicorns if you have to, just make sure that their memories are wiped of this place.

Ironwing opened his mouth to cut him off, but Sandcroft beat him to it. "Don't say anything, you'll have to complete it on your own, we will take no chances."

He walked back over to the window. "Gather your 'militia,' Iron, their services will be needed as well. As I said, we will take no chances. Now leave, and make sure your assets are in order by the first of April."

Ironwing felt the tug of an invisible force on the back of his jacket, and he was tugged toward the door. Not a sound was emitted from his beak as the exit opened and he was thrown out. The last thing he saw before the doors closed was the silhouette of the stallion gazing out the same window as before.

Author's Notes:

Fun fact: I had Ironwing originally slated to be named Steelwing, but I changed it after I realized that Steel Wing is an attack from Pokemon.

Chapter 22: The Magician

Spring had always been Lucien's favorite season. Actually being able to see the ground that he walked on again after Winter always made him smile. He just felt more connected to the earth during the season. Even though he lived in a colder part of Earth, he felt more suited to the warmth.

Spring in Equestria was something else to behold though. It was beautiful in the Fall, when he had first arrived, but Spring just made everything seem so much more than it actually was. Green grass, full trees, blue skies, and blooming flowers. It was all so fantastic, he had even been inspired to knock out most of the walls in his house and replace them with glass. Princess Celestia had been kind enough to hire him as the "Part-Time Ministerial Advocater of Advisers of Magical Relativity." The position itself didn't really mean anything, it was just a cover so Celestia could get him a steady influx of bits.

Winter Wrap-Up had been fun too. A day to clean Ponyville of everything Winter. He tried a little bit of everything, even managing to persuade Twilight to lend him her balloon so he could bust some clouds. But his favorite activity by far was dumping the snow off houses and trees.

And there was the singing. Who would have thought that everyone in the town had a singing voice? And he couldn't get over the fact that everyone also mysteriously knew the lyrics, including him. He decided that he would experiment with the "spontaneous musical numbers" that occur every so often. It would definitely require some testing. For science.

At some point after the new year, Twilight and the rest of the girls took a trip up North at the behest of Princess Celestia. Lucien opted to stay out of the adventure that time, so it's needless to say that he was surprised when he felt the massive surge of energy and light show coming from the newly reformed Crystal Kingdom.

Celestia, for whatever reason, decided to let the one they called Discord out of his petrification so the girls could make friends with him. Lucien knew it had "bad idea" written all over it, but decided to just let them do their own thing. Sure, he was there to say hi initially, but Discord seemed strangely averse to interacting with him. Maybe it was just the way their magic mixed or something, Chaos magic and Earth's magic never really got along well, and Lucien thought Chaos magic was bullshit anyway. Long story short, Discord tried to pull some funny business and Fluttershy wouldn't have any of it so they all basically became friends. Whatever, he wasn't gonna question it.

And then Twilight grew wings shortly after that.

Just after Winter Wrap Up, Ponyville went through a huge magical accident. Cutie marks were swapped, the sky was in checkers, and animals ran loose. Naturally, Lucien slept through everything, having been up for five days straight before the event. He did get up when Rainbow Dash shattered one of his windows and told him that they vaporized Twilight. Luckily she reappeared with Princess Celestia just as he and Dash were running back into town.

So she became a princess. There was a coronation ceremony and everything. Rarity made him a tuxedo for the occasion, something that he took a great liking to. Many tears were shed, or, in Shining Armor's case, liquid pride. Anyway, the whole princess thing didn't change all that much their lives, besides giving Twilight the ability to fly. Even if she was terrible at it.

As for Ironwing, Lucien was taking his own advice and waiting. Skyline Corporation, Ironwing's company, wasn't doing anything. Lucien, on the other hand, was spending all his time at the library, both visiting Twilight and doing research with her. The two held a special friendship, both having so much in common. Lucien, just like Twilight, spent a large amount of his earlier years without companionship besides that found within the covers of books. So, naturally, when they studied together, it was usually dead silent.

So, as per the usual arrangement, the two sat across from each other at the dining table in the kitchen of the library. No noise was heard, besides the occasional rustle of a page turning. It was soothing to Lucien. The noises of a library always calmed him down.

They calmed him down so much, in fact, that he just quietly and quickly drifted off to sleep.

His eyes flicked open. He let out a groan as he took into account the darkness that surrounded him. A lone light shone down overhead. "Alright?! What is it this time?!" he shouted to the sky. "Can't I just have a little peace?!"

The ground sped in from behind him and he floated down to the surface. It was a dark colored cobblestone street. Buildings erupted from the unseen below, followed by several lampposts and street signs that were spaced far apart. The sky above him faded from black to auburn, and clouds swirled furiously around in wide circles, the motions slightly blurring. Off in the far distance two triangular land masses smashed together and formed a massive mountain. As a finishing touch to the landscape, a countless amount of stone chunks flew in from the distance and slammed into place to form a broken castle.

Everything shifted a few feet forward suddenly, causing him to stumble. The edges of the building and the streets became more refined and darker. The color balance shifted to make everything look richer, then tinging it all with red slightly. As he looked down the long street, several buildings blew outward in an explosion of a black substance, then froze and flew back from where they came, albeit in slightly different shapes.

Several archways pressed out of the buildings and formed bridges to nowhere. Arching spires and impossible angles loomed into the sky, twisted markings present on the flags that flapped violently in an unseen wind. Finally, stains of a black, inky substance splattered into existence randomly down the street and on the walls of the buildings.

Lucien felt his sword pressing down on his back and he drew it, surprised that he had it. He began walking forward, in the direction of the castle in the distance. "It hasn't been too long since I was here. A couple months, at best. Why now?" he asked the sky.

As he walked he examined his surroundings more closely. The buildings seemed familiar in a way, and they were very unlike any he had seen on Earth. They were shaped oddly, not conforming to a common shape like those found in a city. The tops of some of them ended in spires that came to a sharp point, where some had flags flying. He looked to his right and noticed a mangled stature. He took a closer look and noticed that it seemed to form a pegasus.

"I'm in Canterlot," he said, the words weighing down on him slightly. Then, with a new sense of purpose, he took off down the street in a light jog. He flinched as a building to his left suddenly shot out a few feet towards him.

He passed a few alleys peacefully. Looking down a couple, he noticed that they were blocked by seemingly locked gates. After walking a few feet past one such alleyway, the ground began to shake. Panicked slightly, he looked down to see that cracks were forming in the street he was walking on. "Shit!" he yelled as the ground started to give way. He stumbled backward before turning and running.

The ground erupted into many separate chunks of street, each part a different size and height. The piece he was standing on flew up into the air a few feet, just a bit higher than the others around him. He looked behind his shoulder to see that other chunks of street, further down, were flying straight into the abyss below him. He quickly snapped his head back around and ran to the end of his floating block.

He jumped off, aiming for a piece of street just near him. He landed hard and kept running. He could hear the ground rapidly disappearing behind him, the sound of stone grinding on stone. He jumped several more small gaps and looked to his left. The alley that he had passed by a minute before was there, the ground stable-looking. Making a snap decision, he changed his direction to run across the street.

The ground that he had leapt off a few seconds before disappeared downward. Desperately, Lucien jumped as far as he could, hoping to land safely. A swirling auburn abyss loomed below him, threatening to swallow him up and spit him out of his dream. Thinking fast, he focused energy to the bottoms of his feet and then released it, squeaking out a second jump to finish bridging the gap.

He felt around on his back to make sure his sword had stayed on. His hand knocked against the handle and he let it drop. Then he checked his shoulder guard to make sure it was still strapped on tightly. It was. He was good to go.

He looked forward. The gate suddenly swung open violently, breaking its top hinge and hanging lopsided. "Nice to see that I'm invited to the party," he remarked.

He walked down the alley at a quick pace, already gearing to leave as soon as possible. It was a good opportunity to see glimpses of possible futures, but they often raised more questions than provided answers. Given the way he spent his last time dreaming, he was expecting quite a fight.

The alley opened up into a courtyard. The grass had shriveled up and died long ago, apparently. The field was slate gray, and the blades crumpled into ashes as he made his way across. His eyes flicked around nervously, expecting an ambush.

Which was why it was no surprise in the slightest when an ambush occurred. Four ink blots appeared on the ground in a loose semi-circle around him. Moments after, twisted monsters sprang up or crawled out of the black depths. Two of them were wearing cerulean china masks with nothing poking through but a mouth filled with jagged teeth. Each wielded a rather large stained and rusty saw-tooth blade that was attached to their arm through a complex series of gears and chains.

The other two had white porcelain masks, both with some cracks that leaked out black blood. Their knees bent inward, towards each other, and they both wielded gleaming straight machetes, like over-sized razor blades, attached to their arms like the saw-toothed blades were on the other monsters.

Lucien pulled out his sword. "Let's dance," he said with a wicked grin.

The monsters charged him. Not one to stand around, he morphed Balance into Harmony and quickly twisted his body to send the chakrams flying from left to right. They swept across the chests of the monsters, leaving slight gashes in their thin armor. He caught them and then spun in a full circle, sending the weapons in an orbit around him. They slashed around his enemies multiple times, battering them like they were caught in a storm.

As soon as they returned to his hands, he morphed them into Chaos. He used his momentum to bring the massive hammer around to knock into the first two monsters on his left, sending them flying backward. He swung Chaos up and then smashed directly down onto the head of the next monster in line, destroying it completely.

He noticed the final one preparing for an attack, but Lucien was faster. He morphed Chaos back into Harmony, then he sent the two chakrams slicing across the monster's sides. When they returned, he changed them into Balance to deliver a final sweeping blow that cut diagonally starting from his bottom right. The monster split into two halves before fading into nothing.

He heard motion behind him and brought his sword up quickly to block the saw-tooth blade that was about to lop off his head. Metal clanged together and sparks flew as the blades ground against each other. To break the lock, Lucien kicked the monster, causing it to stumble backward.

As that one recovered, he spotted the other one he had knocked back with Chaos. It was attempting to limp back to where he was standing. Wishing to speed up the process, he threw one of his chakrams. It stuck firmly in its chest, and Lucien called it back to him, causing the monster to fly along with it.

He caught the chakram in one hand and punched its face with the other. While it was stunned, he put one foot on it to yank out the chakram embedded in its chest. It came loose with a sickening plop, and he slashed Balance through its neck, severing it neatly.

The other monster had gotten back up and was eyeing him cautiously. It was one of the ones with a cerulean mask and creepy gnarled teeth. They gnashed in anticipation, but Lucien would have none of that. He rushed it with Chaos in his hands, readying an attack. The creature saw this and tried to block the incoming assault, but Lucien broke through it like the blade was made of paper.

His first strike broke the block, causing it to stagger back a step. The next blow came as a reverse attack, hammering it back a few steps. As a final move to end the combo, he spun around, using the full power of his momentum to send the monster flying from the end of his hammer.

It dissipated as it flew away, leaving nothing but scraps of darkness that gave evidence to its path through the sky.

He spent the next couple of minutes running through the streets of the fractured Canterlot. More than once did he have to fight a few monsters that crawled out of whatever darkness existed in the nightmare. He was getting close to the castle now, just a few blocks away from the front gate and the courtyard it stood in.

He slowed down to a light jog as the courtyard came into sight. It was in the shape of a semicircle, the tall walls forming the straight edge, but the gate was open. He walked to the center and drew his sword. "Boss fight..." he muttered expectantly. Small spires of shimmering black crystal jutted up haphazardly through the cobblestone ground, effectively cutting off any escape routes. The gates sudden slammed shut and a chain wrapped its way through the bars.

The ground shook directly beneath him. He stumbled, but caught himself, then backpedaled a good few feet. A roar echoed in his ears, and he looked around for the source. His eyes caught motion and they snapped to the source. The street he had been standing on just a few seconds before were cracking and trembling violently. They began to rise into the air in a rounded shape, forming something. Black fluids dripped down from the uppermost stone, spilling through the cracks in the stone and giving the beast shape.

Lucien looked on in horror as he saw what was forming. More and more cobblestones left the ground and joined on to help the creature gain a body. It grew larger and larger, the surrounding buildings contributing their foundation to aid the monstrosity.

Eventually the beast stopped growing. It rumbled for a few moments before turning its head-thing to look directly at Lucien and letting loose an ear-shattering roar.

Lucien's eyes grew wide and his arms went limp. The Behemoth was almost as tall as Canterlot Castle, and built just as thick as well. He had never faced an enemy of this caliber alone, ever.

Cracks ran along its face, making a macabre grin. It raised a club-like fist slowly into the air, then let it drop directly onto the practically catatonic Lucien.

But Lucien wasn't there anymore. He rolled away at the last possible second and sprinted as fast as he could to the left of the Behemoth. He spared a look to the right to see that its fist had raised up to reveal a heavily dented ground. The creature roared in anger and swept its arm across the ground towards Lucien.

Reacting quickly, he jumped straight up into the air, twisting his body backward. The arm rushed by below him, close enough that he could feel the air on his face.

He landed with his boots on the ground firmly. The Behemoth was facing him again, scowling angrily as it prepared for its next attack.

It roared at Lucien.

Lucien roared back.

It reared its other arm back for a punch-like move. Lucien sheathed his sword and got ready to dodge. The club-like hand rushed at him head on, and he jumped again. Its fist slammed into the building behind him and stuck there for a moment. Taking his advantage, Lucien landed on the arm and sprinted up the surface.

He sent Harmony flying at the Behemoth's face several times, but it didn't appear to be doing any damage. Upon reaching the shoulder, already several stories up, he switched to Chaos and hefted it up on his shoulder. The beast freed its arm with a final jerk, just in time for Lucien to slam his hammer directly into its face.

It roared in pain and stumbled backward a bit. Lucien lost his balance but tried to regain it by lowering his body, which is why he never saw the hand coming.

It grabbed him firmly, squeezing the air out off his lungs. He struggled as it brought him close to its face. A deep rumbling noise echoed from within the Behemoth, and the cracks spread into a grin on its face again. There was a smooth surface where its eyes would be, but Lucien knew it could see him.

Lucien stopped his motions and glared into its face fearlessly.

The Behemoth, in response, reared its arm up, then threw Lucien straight into the ground.

He slammed into the surface, sinking a few feet into the rocks and dirt. He coughed once, then tried to roll over. He heard stones grinding on stones and he looked up to see the Behemoth's club-hand hovering above the hole he was in. "Shit," he croaked.

It slammed down and everything was dark.

His vision lightened slowly, turning to a dark gray. His time in the dream was over, and he had failed. He knew that he wouldn't get the full vision that usually came with his awakening.

Static broke in, signaling the beginning of the slideshow.

The first picture was something he recognized after a moment. It was the logo of the Skyline Corporation, Ironwing's company. But as the seconds ticked on, he noticed a very faint image overlaid in the background. It was just an outline, whatever it was. He mentally looked closer to try to make it out. It seemed to him to be an upside-down heart...

A spade, he realized. There was a spade in the background.

Before he had a chance to ponder the connection, the picture faded into static. Flecks of gray and black danced along his vision before beginning to congeal into vague shapes. Whatever the next picture was, it was colored darkly. Moments passed by and the vision cleared up more.

He could see clouds, of that he was certain. But there was also many more sharper shapes outline around them. He guessed that the picture was of something during night. But wait, he could see specks of orange light fading in and out around the image. After another few seconds, he could tell just what it was.

It was Cloudsdale in flames.

Chapter 23: An Unexpected Visitor

Lucien gasped as he woke. The book in his lap flew across the room, startling Twilight. He put a hand against his forehead to find it was drenched in a cold sweat. Panicked, he jumped out of his chair and rushed for his backpack.

"Lucien?! What's wrong?"

He spun around and shoved a finger against her lips. "Dream. Vision. Shut up."

He whipped back around and frantically dug around in the bag until he found his notebook. He materialized a pen in one hand as the pages unfolded to come to rest on a blank one. He quickly sketched out what he saw in his dream and Twilight came up to look over his shoulder, looking miffed.

He finished quickly and turned to the next page, then sketched out the second picture. After a few moments he heard a soft gasp from behind his back. Finishing the drawing, he turned around to see that the miffed look on Twilight's face had turned to one of horror.

"B-but that's..." she tried to stammer out. "Why would you draw something like that?" she asked, borderline-terrified.

"Because I saw it happening," Lucien said softly, letting his eyes rest on the paper.

"That doesn't mean it's going to... happen..." she trailed off as Lucien locked eyes with her. And what she saw scared her. "You... you've seen it. We can't stop it, can we?" She gulped.

Lucien drew in a breath slowly, then let it all out in a huff. "I don't know. I've never tried to stop it; usually when I get a vision it's something that's generally good. But that... that's not good at all."

Twilight put a hoof on his knee. "Alright then. We'll just have to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen," she said in a determined voice.

Lucien looked at her with a small, pained smile. "Sure, Twilight." He knew the words weren't true, but he had to say them anyway.

"Well, anyway, we should probably-"

"Wait!" Lucien interrupted her suddenly, head cocked sideways.

She waited for a minute, then spoke again. "What is it-"

"I said wait!" he said in hushed tones. Hesitantly, he put a hand to his ear, like he was listening to something far away. "Something's not right..." he trailed off.

"What can it possibly be now?" Twilight whispered harshly.

Lucien stood up and his sword appeared on his back. "There's something here that doesn't belong. Something from my world." His eyes were fixed on a point outside his windows, somewhere in the Everfree. "Wait here, I'll take care of this." He tossed his journal into his backpack and threw it over his shoulders, then sprinted out the doors to the sound of Twilight's panicked shouting.

Her hoofsteps followed him for a few moments, but faded quickly. She wouldn't be able to match his pace, and he knew it. He charged off through the forest, ducking branches and jumping bushes like he'd been doing it his entire life; which, coincidentally, he has.

He could sense something not far from where he was. Some sort of magic that was foreign to Equestria. Judging by the residual effects of it, it had been there for quite some time, even before Winter rolled in. Ever since he had the Terramorphus incident, he had been paying closer attention to the world's ambient magic to make sure there were no invaders slipping in. The only question he had was how they had managed to fly under his radar for so long.

He burst out into a clearing with his sword out. The center of the area was occupied by a house, with a moss-covered roof and walls that seemed to be made from planks from Everfree trees. Roaming around the area were a large amount of monsters that he recognized from his world. Some were ethereal, hooded beings named Watchers, some were smaller golems, cobbled together from scraps of metal and earth, and the rest were red-eyed shades called Sentinels.

He stomped the ground once and each of the golems flew up off the ground. He held them by the chunks of dirt that formed their body, then launched them as far off into the Everfree as he could. He changed his sword to Harmony and set to work. His blades seemed to fly every direction, cutting up the remaining Sentinels and Watchers with ease. He spun around and the weapons followed suit, revolving in an orbit around his body. He stopped and fell to a knee, catching both of the chakrams in outstretched arms.

He pressed the matching weapons together and the load in his hands suddenly became much heavier as they morphed into Chaos. He hefted up the warhammer and let it slam down to crush a Watcher that had gotten too close. He swung the hammer around and pulled a full 360 degree turn to launch a Sentinel into the treeline. He stopped for a moment, breathing hard. Something was wrong, he could sense it. Something with an aura more powerful than a regular monster.

He looked to his left and changed back to Balance as the dust settled. There, standing in the open doorway to the house, was a man. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans, with a metal pauldron strapped over his right shoulder, bigger than Lucien's thin, reinforced one. Lucien didn't take too much time to think. He quickly made the connection that the mage in front of him had summoned the creatures. Without hesitation, he drew in as much magic as he could, and he watched the trembling man do the same, though on a much smaller scale.

He took a few steps forward, then shot his hand out. A wave of pure concussive force launched itself out of his body, aimed at the other mage. Lucien didn't wait to see it hit though. He sprinted forward another few steps, then used a chunk of earth to give him a jump boost into the air. He watched the man look around for him, then glance up and notice him. Lucien morphed Harmony into Chaos and readied to strike.

The mage didn't move. Chaos slammed into the ground with huge force, shattering the earth and causing stone shrapnel to fly into the air. To Lucien's shock though, the hammer had gone straight through the mage. He watched as the unmoving body burst into specks of dust that faded into the air.

He scanned the surroundings quickly, wrenching Chaos out of the ground. Just as he got the weapon out, he felt a magically-charged fist connect with his gut. Reacting fast, he stuck Balance into the grass, then dropped down and swept the legs of the other mage. He heard a body thud onto the ground and smiled in satisfaction. With a flourish, he swiftly grabbed Balance from its spot in the earth and pointed it down directly in the other mage's face as he was trying to get off his stomach.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you," Lucien stated coldly. He had no tolerance for those who professed to believe in magic, but summoned dark creatures to do their dirty work.

The mage looked up at Lucien, panic present in his eyes. "I just want to live in peace," he said while turning his head to the side.

"Then you summoned those?" Lucien asked, jerking his head in the direction of the wreckage of his fight.

"They were to only aid in my concealment. Any of the ponies that got too close to my home were immediately dropped at the entrance of the Everfree with no prior memory of going in,” the man hastily explained.

"Hmm... Well, killing him's out. I don't think he truly appreciates the gravity of what he was doing. Which means there's one other option... Hesitantly, he spun his sword around and set it to rest on his back again. "Well, that would have been messy. Up, up." He held out a hand for the man to take.

Though he didn't take it. Lucien watched his eyebrow crawl up his face slowly. "Forgive me if I say I'm a bit flabbergasted, but, just like that?"

“It’s pretty clear that you’re new to this, somewhat. Even if those illusions were impressive. And summoning Watchers and Sentinels, not bad.”

“I may still be technically new to magic, but that doesn't discredit eight years of practice.”

"That sounds about right. Illusionist, yeah?"

“I’m experienced with illusions and a few others types of magic. The advanced stuff I’m barely getting into.”

“Good, good.” He kicked a rock at his feet awkwardly. “I’m Lucien, by the way. Haven’t seen you around here before.”

“Name’s Aiden,” he quickly replied, grabbing Lucien’s hand to pull himself off the ground.

“Where are you from? And don’t say Equestria, because I will punch you.”

“Texas.”

“Year?”

“2041.”

“Hmm. 'Bout 2044 now. You’ve been here a while.”

“I came here on my own accord. Leaving home became a top priority after a while.”

“Well, the lifestyle’s not for everyone. Where were you? When you left, I mean.”

“I was still living in Texas, but around the more urban areas. You?”

“Outskirts of New York while taking a quasi-vacation. Got here by accident.”

“How do you get here by accident?”

“Trying to summon a demon,” he replied casually. “My cat screwed up one of the runes, though. I’m still not entirely sure how it worked out that I would end up here.”

Lucien ignored Aiden's glare. “A demon?!”

“Yeah, a demon. Not one in particular, but not, like, Abaddon or something.”

“I don’t care what demon it was. A demon is a demon, and I’ll be damned if I have to deal with another one of those!”

Lucien scanned his face, reading the lines, the anger, the past. “You've had a rough time, haven’t you? Why didn't you try to contact one of the Factions?”

“When I learned of the Factions, I didn't like the strictness and their corrupt ways of thinking. I decided that I would take on my own responsibilities and fight my own battles,” Aiden answered.

“I get the corrupt part, but strict? Sure, they can be a little uptight and all, but…” He met Aiden’s eyes, “Going it alone isn't easy. Sometimes you need backup. And I’m guessing that you went toe-to-toe with a demon, without help.”

“Yes, I did,” Aiden answered bluntly, “And I lost a very close friend because of it.”

Lucien smiled sympathetically. “It happens to all of us.”

“This was more than just a very close friend per se. More like family.”

Lucien snickered as an idea popped into his head. “Well that’s good, because I was about to suggest that you two were romantically involved.”

Aiden spluttered. “I hope to Christ you're kidding.”

“I've seen weirder. And it’s not so rare these days," he said, holding his hands up in defense.

“I could care less about what you have seen. I never go against my morals.”

“Pesky things, those are. How old are you?”

“Twenty-three,” Aiden answered flatly. "He's young. Very young."

“And I see that you’re a bit of a blacksmith too, is that right?” Lucien asked, eyeing the lone piece of metal on Aiden's shoulder.

“Sort of. This pauldron is the only piece of armor that I actually made myself. The runes I worked into it are my doing too.”

“Can I see?”

Aiden, with clear reluctance, unstrapped the armor from his shoulder and handed it over to Lucien. He held it up and examined it. Its steel was colored dark crimson, with a black leather strap. On the surface of the plated armor were several runes that Lucien recognized; they translated to reinforcement, defense, and the like. The metalwork was commendable at best, and it wasn't battle-scarred by any means. It estimated that it wasn't older than a few years.

“Huh,” Lucien said, turning it over in his hands. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

“I still feel it could be better though.”

“Perhaps…” he trailed off. “So you just live here in the forest, huh?”

“Yes, I do. Nothing more, nothing less.”

There was a lull in the conversation. “...You’re not the best conversation partner.”

Aiden seemed to ponder Lucien’s comment for a brief moment, then shrugged. “It’s something I developed while living here. I’m just not comfortable talking to people for very long because well….” He paused. “Let’s just say it’s just from a lingering fear.”

Lucien raised a brow questioningly and made a note to investigate later, but he didn't say anything immediately. Then, after waiting for another moment, “I’ll leave you to it then. I know what it’s like to want isolation. Took me some 30 years to break out of the mindset.”

Lucien smiled mentally as he saw the befuddled expression on Aiden's face, no doubt he was trying to comprehend how Lucien could look so young for his age. Eventually, Aiden just shook his head, and replied, “Thanks for your understanding.”

“I guess I’ll see you around then. I’ll make sure to, uh, discourage ponies from wandering out here.” He began backing up as he talked. “Maybe put up some wards; those are nice. Have fun.” He flashed and disappeared.

And reappeared in his house. He smoothed his hair back, fixing anything that might have been out of place. He walked upstairs and set his backpack on the ground next to his bed, completely ignoring Twilight, who was sitting on his couch. He rummaged through the bag for a few moments before withdrawing a crinkled paper note. He stared at the signature at the bottom before sighing and stuffing back into his pack. "It wasn't Aiden. Though I still wonder who 'Seth the Chaos Mage' is, though."

"Lucien! What was all that about!?" Twilight shouted at him from downstairs.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that." He slung his backpack onto his shoulders and jogged back downstairs to greet a concerned-looking Twilight. "Uh, what's wrong?" he asked, confused.

"You just went running off into the Everfree Forest without giving a single word about where you're going, besides telling me to not follow you! And then when I finally catch up, I-"

"I told you not to follow me!"

"What was I supposed to do!? You could have gotten hurt all alone!"

Instead of responding verbally, Lucien just looked at her.

Twilight blushed, but still spoke up. "Okay, you probably wouldn't have gotten hurt, but my point still stands!" she returned back to full volume. "I couldn't, as a friend, stand by and watch you go off by yourself somewhere potentially dangerous!"

Lucien didn't say anything for a minute, then responded. "Okay, I'll give you that... But when I say stay put, you have to stay put. There's not a single time where I would say that and have it not mean anything. There are some things that I'd rather you not see..." he trailed off, looking to the side. "But wait, you did follow me? Then what-" he looked back up at Twilight to see a satisfied look on her face.

"Twilight... what did you do...?"

"I reported that brute to Princess Celestia. I'm just glad that you're safe and now he's-"

"YOU WHAT?!" The sheer force of Lucien's shout blew back Twilight's mane. She took a quick look at Lucien's horrified face and her ears folded back.

"I reported him to Princess Celestia...?" She said in a much smaller voice.

"ARRGH! Now I'm going to have go up to Canterlot to break him out of jail before they kick him off the planet!" He glanced at Twilight during his brief rant to see that her eyes had begun to well up. He sighed. "Well, it's not your fault. I understand completely, especially after that 'don't run after me' conversation we just had. You saw that I was being attacked by a human, and you thought that Celestia could handle him the best. I take it you got out of there quickly, like I would have wanted you to?"

She nodded, quickly wiping the gathering tears in her eyes away. "Yeah. After I saw him come out of that broken-down house I sent a letter to the Princess."

Lucien let out a breath slowly. "Alright, head back to the Library, I'm going up to Canterlot. I'll be back in a few hours, with any luck. Hopefully I won't have to fight 'sun-butt' again."

Twilight glared at him for the nickname he gave her mentor, but teleported away at his request.

Lucien ran downstairs to his basement and searched the shelves above his alchemy station. He grabbed a small blue potion, downed it quickly, and charged up a long-range teleport. His fists glowing with barely-contained power, he walked back to the door, then spun around and sprinted across the room, jumping and letting go of the spell when he had obtained enough speed...

...so he could come stumbling out onto the cobbled streets of Canterlot. "Whoa! Are you okay?" he heard two voices echo from nearby, along with hooves grabbing his arms and midsection. Bleary-eyed, he could make out the fuzzy shapes of two guards helping him back to his feet.

"I-thanks. He rubbed his eyes for a moment to clear them. "Long-range teleports suck, right?" he asked the ponies that had just helped him up.

"Uh, right." Both the guards looked at each other briefly. "From where?" asked the one on the right.

"Ponyville," replied Lucien, getting his bearings.

"Ponyville?!" exclaimed both the guards simultaneously.

"Is that far?" asked Lucien as he spied the golden gates that stood at the entrance to Canterlot Castle.

"It sure is!" shouted the guard on his left.

"I can't believe you could make it!" echoed the guard on his right.

"Uh, yeah, thanks. Look, I need to get in to see Celestia, could you open the gates?"

"Oh, uh, of course." One of the guards turned around and looked up at a tower next to the gate. He raised a hoof and waved it around for a moment before putting it back on the ground. With the sound of rolling thunder, the gates shuddered open slowly.

"Thanks, won't forget it!" said Lucien as he ran off and squeezed himself between the small opening between the two heavy pieces of metal.

He dashed through the palace's first few corridors, blowing past ponies and staff alike. Several guards tried to stop him as he went through, but he just ignored them and moved on.

He made another guess at a fork in the road, turned left, and- "Oof!"

He and the pony he had run into tumbled across the ground, going head over heels, or hooves, a few times before stopping. Lucien jumped back up as quickly as possible and turned to give the pony a piece of his mind, so he-

"Lucien!" exclaimed the Princess of the Night.

"Luna!" Lucien echoed her surprise.

Her face rearranged itself to look somewhat smug. "I suppose you're here to formally testify against that 'ruffian' down in the dungeons."

"'Ruffian'? Luna, he isn't-" he cut himself off when he saw her face.

"We know Twilight was over-exaggerating his 'fearsome-ness.' I'm sure that you handled the encounter well, although we still are unsure of his place in Equestria," she said with a concerned look on her face.

"What do you mean? He's here for pretty much the same reason I am." Lucien replied, confused.

"He's hiding something from us, Lucien. We are just not certain what it is. And while we believe it may prove dangerous, I am choosing to believe that he is no less dangerous than you are. Celestia, however, seems to think otherwise."

"Hey, I am way more dangerous than he is! You know what I did a few months ago! Bah! Never mind, where is he? I don't want him getting deported because you got the wrong impression."

Luna deadpanned. "Down the corridor, two rights and three lefts. Go down the staircase until you see an iron door with a barred window."

"Thank you," shouted Lucien, already halfway down said corridor. He followed her instructions exactly, found the iron door, charged up mana into his leg and-

CLANG!

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?" he roared, breaking into what he assumed were the dungeons.

"We're in here," called Celestia's voice from a few cells down.

He spoke as he was walking. “I go home to find Twilight looking all satisfied about something, so I ask why, and I find out that the first human that I’ve seen in months was taken prisoner!” Lucien stomped into view and stopped just outside the cell. He put his mana-charged hands on the bars and with some well-hidden effort, bent them apart and stepped into the cavity in the wall. “At least I got here before you got a chance to deport the boy!” He gestured wildly to Aiden, whose jaw was hanging open in shock.

“Twenty-six minutes, you’re losing your touch, Lucien,” said a grinning Celestia.

Lucien’s eyes widened and he took a step towards the princess. “Don’t try to joke your way out of this one, I’m not letting you kick him off this world.”

Her amused expression fell flat upon witnessing his actions. “Don’t forget that just because you bested my sister and I once, that it will happen a second time,” she said coldly.

"Oh shit. That's definitely a 'don't mess with me' face." He awkwardly nudged his backpack into a more comfortable position and shifted on his feet. “Right, right. Of course. Sorry.” Then fire filled his eyes again. “But that still doesn’t mean that I’m letting you deport Aiden without at least-”

“I’m not.”

“...What?”

“I’m not deporting him. In fact, I’d like you to take him back to Ponyville as soon as possible and get him integrated into society.”

“What?!” both the men gasped.

“But I’m on business right now! The only reason I’m here is because I needed to save his sorry ass!” Lucien pointed at Aiden.

“Hey! My ass is not sorry.” said Aiden, offended.

“Apologies, but my point still stands! I have important business to take care of in Cloudsdale, and you know that! Besides, what’s the harm in letting him stay in his shack in the Everfree?”

Lucien somehow managed to ignore the glare Aiden was giving him and kept his eyes on Celestia as she began to speak.

“Because he has explicitly stated that he finds ponykind ‘fascinating,’ and I believe that he will benefit from being able to interact among the citizens freely.”

“Okay, but-”

“Actually, I’ve already been doing that,” interrupted Aiden.

“...What?” Two pairs of eyes fixed on him at once.

“I made a potion that transforms me into a pony for a few hours at a time. I’ve been visiting Ponyville almost daily since the first few weeks that I got here.”

“That’s very resourceful of you.” Celestia commented. “Tell me, how did you manage to make such a potion?” She asked.

“I just happened to do a bit of research on some of the plants in the Everfree and managed to make a potion out of them. One of the ingredients the locals happen to call Poison Joke.” He explained.

Lucien blinked. “That’s actually pretty clever. I’m not the most professional alchemist, being self-taught, but I wouldn't have thought to make a polymorph potion out of Poison Joke.” While he prided himself on being an apt chemist, creating something like that was a little bit out of his league.

“It wasn't easy at first, but once I figured out what effects each plant had I was able to deduct which ones were more useful.”

“Okay, but how did nopony notice you?” Lucien facepalmed. “Look at me, I’m saying nopony now. I've gone native.” He flung his hands up into the air and turned to look at the wall.

“Oh, you mean when I first entered Equestria.” Aiden thought for moment. “Well, I just cast an illusion on the ponies at the time. For the most part, I was lucky enough to make it out of the library in Ponyville in time with some notes from specific books.”

“I could never get the hang of illusion magic. Too much finesse involved. It’s much easier to just use sheer force. My sparring partners all agree,” said Lucien with a bemused smile.

“Illusion magic was something I immediately taught myself after becoming a mage. I needed creative ways of escaping from unnecessary conflict…” he trailed off. "'Unnecessary conflict'? Maybe Luna was right..."

“While that is very interesting, Aiden,” interrupted Celestia, “There are more pressing matters at hand. Such as getting you introduced to Ponyville.”

Lucien blinked a few times before realizing that he and Aiden strayed from the original topic. “Oh, sorry," Aiden apologized. "I guess I’ll go ahead and get ready. No time to waste, am I right?” He hopped off the cot and stretched. After a few pops were heard, he made his way out of the cell.

“Aiden?”

“Yes, Celestia?”

“How exactly do you expect you’ll be getting to Ponyville?”

Aiden halted and did an about face. “I’m ready when you are.”

“Good. We’re taking the carriage. Lucien?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you put the door back and tell the guards to get the carriage ready?”

“Sure.” He turned around and bent the cage’s bars again to walk out, this time leaving a space for Aiden and Celestia to walk through. “Yo, guard! Come here!” he yelled at a stallion trying to put chunks of stone back onto the wall where Lucien kicked the door off its hinges. Startled, he whipped around and saluted, stiff as a board.

He draped a heavy arm over the pony's neck and led him out of the dungeon. "Now, I need a carriage, and I'd like you to..."

Author's Notes:

I half-lied about the hiatus thing. Had to get this one out because reasons.

Those reasons being that this story, as you might have heard, now has its own universe! Sort of! It's set in the same universe and time period as JakeTheBrony's "Wandering Prey," (I'm helping him write it) which is set in what we have dubbed the "Ungroundedverse."

It's a horrible name, I know.

But, regardless of the name, our stories now occur on the same timeline. That means that if you want see the other side of conversations, or see events going on in other parts of Equestria, go check out the story! Also, since we have the same background Earth, you'll get to hear more about what our vision of the planet in 50-something years is like!

"Seth the Chaos Mage" first appeared in Chapter 10: Parallel Journeys II.

Chapter 24: Under Fire

Lucien laid back with a sigh, reclining on a small couch in the room adjoining the throne room, where Luna was currently holding court in Celestia's absence. Aiden and Celestia had taken off a few minutes beforehand, Lucien electing to stay behind. They worked out an agreement where he would meet them back in Ponyville.

He figured it would be a good idea to start preparing to head back, as he didn't have another potion to aid in his teleportation. He considered his options briefly, ruling out anything sacrificial or necromantic, and settled on what could be considered the most dangerous one.

"Yo, guard," he called out, not moving from his position.

"Yes, sir?" came the hesitant voice of the lone guard in the room.

"Which way is the tallest point in this section of the castle?"

"I, uh, it s-should be outside the throne room, three doors on the right, two on the left, and then all the way up the spiral staircase."

"Fantastic." Lucien clapped his hands together sharply and sat up quickly. "I'll see you later, then." He held up his hand and gave a two-finger salute to the guard as he walked past him.

"But, but wait! Why do you want to go to the top of the castle?"

Lucien turned around and flashed him a smile. "To jump off, of course." Before the guard had a chance to respond, he was already in the throne room.

"—and this is the last time I want to hear about it!" Luna stopped abruptly in her rant at the terrified noble as she saw Lucien enter the room.

"Ah, Lucien. Could you explain to this fine gentlecolt why it would be a bad idea to splice together the genes of rockadiles and cocatrices?" Her gritted teeth and narrowed eyes spoke more than a thousand words.

"Um..." he trailed off as 50 expectant eyes fixed on him. "Mitochondria."

And with that, Lucien turned around and walked as quickly as he could to the double doors at the end of the courtroom. Until a dark blue blur swooped down in front of him, blocking his path. "Where's the fire, young magician?"

He almost laughed when she called him young, but kept a straight face. "I have a meeting to attend. With your sister. In Ponyville." He peered around her form, judging the distance from there to the door.

"Do not worry, for I am sure you will be late. Now, come back and tell Mr. Coins why it would be a bad idea to commit a heinous act of science." Her tone left no room for argument. Reluctantly, he turned around and began walking back towards the throne.

"Man, she scares me sometime—OOF!" A force struck him in the back, and he was sent flying. He tumbled forward and rolled across the ground before coming to a stop, his back pressed up against the wall. He looked to the front of the room with hazy eyes. When the world came into focus, he could make out the shocked faces of many nobles and a wicked grin on Luna's face, off in the distance.

"That's for the hammer!" she called out to him.

Lucien held up his hands. "Alright, I deserved it!" he called back. "Sort of," he muttered under his breath.

She flapped her wings a few times and came to land before him, snickering.

"We are so sparring sometime," Lucien said. "Now, help me up, will you?"

"Of course." She held out a hoof and Lucien grabbed it. He winced as she grabbed it with much more force than was necessary, nearly crushing his hand. The grin on her face told him she did it entirely on purpose. "And I would love to spar with you sometime. I believe my guard has grown weary of being defeated by the one they are supposed to protect." She shot a glance to the red-faced batpony that stood next to her throne.

"Heh, heh..." he stretched his spine out and it popped once. "That actually hurt, you know."

Luna gave him another grin, which he supposed was a permanent part of her face now. "It was supposed to." She took her seat on her throne again and looked over the crowd of nobles, all of whom still had their jaws down in shock.

Lucien spoke up. "You should all get used to this. It won't be long before she's destroying the castle with my body." He looked back at her. "Or me, with hers." His head swiveled back around and his eyes locked on to Mr. Coins. "Don't splice DNA, it's how you destroy society. And then I'll have to come in and kill it, and then you, because you'll undoubtedly have gone insane by then. Have fun." He waved his hand once to the pony, then once to Luna, and began walking out of the room.

But when he was at the threshold of the exit, he put a hand on the stone wall, and quickly sent out a pulse of magic. Almost instantly, a stone brick popped out of the wall on the opposite side of the room with a quick grinding noise. It plummeted a few feet and struck Luna on the head. Lucien quickly bolted out the door just as her cry of anger reached his ears.

He sprinted through the halls, racing down the path that the guard had told him would take him to the top of the castle. "Right, right, right, left, left, up the stairs." He was just taking the first turn when he heard Luna bust open the doors he had just closed.

"LUCIEN!" she roared.

"Ahhh!" he screamed back, legs never halting in the frantic sprint.

He made another left, this time through a doorway, and slammed it shut with a burst of magic. Luckily, he's had more experience than most with running away from things trying to kill him, so his form was spectacular. He gracefully dove over a member of the castle staff and rolled back into a run.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" shouted Luna, this time from closer.

"AWAY FROM YOU!" he yelled back.

He hung the third left, this time not even stopping to throw the door open and just busting through it with a magically-charged shoulder rush. He ran a few steps and almost missed the immediate right turn. Skidding a few steps, he pulled a one-eighty and sprinted through.

"YOU CAN'T ESCAPE NOW, LUCIEN! YOU'RE GONNA GET WHAT'S COMING!"

"She must have figured out I was going to the roof. Pity she can't follow me where I'm going after that." The best part about running away from things constantly is that you can learn how to multitask while doing it. On the outside, Lucien was terrified. On the inside, he was calculating and preparing for future moves that he would enact further down the line. For example, he had already begun charging up the spell to do a long-range teleport, even though he had a staircase to run up.

He made the final right and began running up the staircase. The fit was tight, and he barely had enough room to get both his shoulders in. On the bright side, there was no way Luna would be able to cheat and fly up the stairs.

"I'LL GET YOU!" he heard her voice echo from below. This time it seemed she was farther away.

He didn't question what could be a lucky break and continued his pace upward. The staircase was long, but he eventually made it to the top. There was a small wooden door and an empty window on the landing. He quickly shoved the door open, ran inside, and closed it again. Taking a breath, he looked around at the darkened room he had just entered.

Extremely ancient computers lined the walls, switched off and covered in a few inches of dust. Windows lined the upper part of the walls across the breadth of the circular room. A round table sat in the center of the room, housing an outdated map of Equestria inset into the surface. If Lucien had to guess, he would say it was once a war room.

He spotted another door at the other side of the room. He ran to it and put a hand on the handle to open it up- but he paused first. Luna didn't follow him up the staircase, he would have heard her hooves. He swept a hand across a window next to the door, clearing the thick layer of dust off. His eyes looked out at Ponyville and the Foal Mountains off in the distance, scanning for a glimpse of something...

"There!" He noticed a quick flash of dark blue fly by just outside of the tower. "She's waiting for me." He glanced down at his hand and saw that it had a ball of bright energy swirling around it. His spell was ready to be used.

He threw open the door. Or, rather, he tried to. It stuck, and he jiggled the handle a few time. "Oh, come on!" He kicked the door once futilely, then turned and walked towards the center of the room. He reached the table, turned around, raised his foot to channel magic into the bottom, and-

BANG!

A blast of energy sent the wooden door slamming outward, hanging off only one hinge. Not wishing to waste another moment, he sprinted out the opening and leapt over the safety rail on the balcony. He spun around in midair to look behind him as he plummeted towards the ground.

"LUCIEN!" Luna yelled to him. Her figure rushed at him quickly.

"I'LL SEE YOU LATER!" he shouted to her as she flapped her wings frantically to catch up with him.

His form started to glow and lines of magic rushed around him, leaving a trail like a comet behind his body. His vision began to turn to white as the ground rushed up to meet him. Then, just before he smashed into the surface, he teleported.

He came flying out of his teleport quickly, only this time he was actually parallel to the ground. His shoes touched to the grass and he skidded across the somewhat-smooth surface, kicking up heaps of the plant as he did so. Finally he came to a halt and he dropped to a knee to catch his breath.

He around to see he was in Ponyville proper. Only, something was wrong. Several buildings were up in smoke, and panicking citizens were running around all over the place. He stood up and took off towards Town Hall, hoping to some deity that Aiden and Celestia were arriving at the same time he was.

Lucien glanced up and saw a shape moving down some clouds ahead of him. He squinted his eyes and was able to identify the shape as Aiden. He spun around once, eyes searching the skies for the chariot he came in. "There." He caught a glimpse of gold between some clouds higher up in the sky.

"Let's find out what's going on."

His eyes followed Aiden's descent until the man jumped past some buildings that were blocking Lucien's path. Using a burst of magic, he propelled himself upward, soaring up into the air to come to land on the roof of one of the buildings. He looked down to see how Aiden was faring.

The man had his arm stuck inside a Watcher's chest, clearly gripping something inside, and frost was slowly spreading up his arm. Lucien could feel how cold it was from where he stood. Then, Aiden's hand shot back forwards and he emitted a triumphant cry, the Watcher fading into nothing. His victory was short-lived, however, because the shadow of a Sentinel crept forward and got a hold of his leg, beginning to drag him across the ground. A golem was readying its fists a short distance away.

Just before Lucien could jump in to intervene, Aiden cast some spell on his hand and used it to dissolve the shadowy Sentinel.

"Well, he can handle himself alright, I suppose. Not very flashy with his technique, but I guess that just comes from experience." He made the decision to attack the golem that Aiden had just dodged.

Lucien propelled himself up into the air and threw Harmony's twin chakrams across the street at the golem. "Aiden!" The blades stuck in the golem's neck, and he reached up two massive hands to try to claw them out. While the monster was distracted, Lucien launched himself forward with a burst of magic and he came crashing down into the golem with a full-body kick. "You'e got some 'splainin' to do!" They both tumbled to the ground. Harmony disappeared from the golem's neck and reappeared in his hands as Chaos.

"What the hell was that?! You could have gotten yourself killed!" Aiden yelled from behind him.

"Yeah," replied Lucien, driving the warhammer into the golem's metal head, "But I didn't."

Aiden let some breath out in a huff. "This is my mess. I should be the one who cleans it up."

“Rule one of life on Earth. Make sure you know what you’re up against.” His hammer disappeared and reformed as a sword. “Rule two of life on Earth. Don’t ever refuse help when offered.” His eyes flicked to Sentinel just behind Aiden. “Rule three, DUCK!”

Lucien cleanly cut through the shadow-like creature before it had a chance to take Aiden's head off. The man slowly raised his head to see Lucien sheathing his sword across his back. "We should probably talk later. You know, after we mercilessly slaughter every creature in Ponyville that isn't a pony." He paused in thought. "Or a human. Or griffin, or... you get the idea."

"You're right..." Aiden said. Then, without another word, he turned and powered up his hand again. Lucien watched as he charged a golem, dodged a clumsy strike, then punched the thing into two separate halves. Lucien noticed a slight sag in his shoulders after he completed the attack.

"Nice going with that power fist man, I saw that." Lucien unsheathed his sword and lazily decapitated a Watcher that had gotten too close for comfort.

Aiden stared at him for a moment in exasperation. “Can’t you take anything seriously? I mean, stop being so casual about everything! You’re slashing that thing’s head off for Christ’s sake!” Aiden shouted.

Lucien shrugged. “When you've been doing this for as long as I have, it stops becoming a big deal. Besides, I've seen worse than these.” He sheathed his sword again, letting it rest on his back. “Besides, I just fought like, twenty of these earlier.”

“Don’t remind me.” Aiden replied.

“Okay, I won’t.” He spun around and hurled Balance at another golem off in the distance. While it spun through the air, green mana coalesced on his hands and took the shape of hooked claws. "Oh ho ho! These look wicked!" He sprinted to chase his sword down.

The blade stuck in the golem's chest, miraculously right on target. Lucien caught up with it in seconds, readying his hands for an attack. He dodged the golem's first attack, then caught the second one on his claws. With a grunt of effort, he pushed the golem's arm back to leave it open to attack. Without hesitation, he swiped his left hand's claws diagonally across the golem's body, then mimicked the action with his right.

After a moment, the golem came crashing to the ground, now in several cleanly cut slices. The mana dissipated around his hands and he withdrew his sword from the rubble.

He looked around and saw himself surrounded by Watchers and Sentinels. He had been cornered by some burning buildings. He looked off in the distance to see that Aiden had made multiple copies of himself and was detonating them on some enemies. Frowning, Lucien held out a hand to the buildings behind him and began rotating it in slow circles. Magic sparked across his arm, and the fires began siphoning into his magic, causing it to take on a more maroon tint.

He sheathed his sword with his off-hand and straightened his back, relaxing out of his fighting stance. He raised his glowing arm and released the pent-up energy just as the creatures tried to rush him.

A bubble of fiery magic pulsed out from his, scorching the Sentinels and Watchers and causing them to disintegrate to mere ashes. He looked around to see that he was no longer surrounded on all sides. He smiled, satisfied in his work.

"But wait." He sniffed once. Then again, smelling something. He looked down to see the leg of his jeans had caught fire. "Oh, that won't do," he said before swatting out the flames quickly. He examined the damage hastily, noting that he now had a bit of a smoldering near his shin.

He held up his arms in exasperation, eyes turned up to the sky. "Great." His arms fell back down and slapped his sides. "Now I have to get these repaired." He looked around to see Aiden was just finishing up with his side of the fight. Shrugging, he set off to go find Carousal Boutique, figuring Aiden could handle whatever he didn't mop up.

He unsheathed his sword and walked with it held by his waist. As he walked through the town, he put out whatever fires he saw and swiftly killed any creature brave enough to attack him while he was on a mission to repair his pants. By the time he had reached the Boutique, he had completely lost Aiden, put out probably most of the fires in Ponyville, and gotten an easy killstreak of forty-something.

He entered without knocking, choosing to let the bell herald his entrance. "Hey, Rarity, there was a problem and—" he was cut off as something thin and hard suddenly smashed into the top of his head.

"OW!" he stumbled forward, one hand raised with a mana shield surrounding it to block any more attacks and one hand withdrawing his sword.

"Oh! Lucien! Thank Celestia you're here! Some of the nastiest things I have ever seen are attacking Ponyville!" Rarity exclaimed, dropping what she had smacked him over the head with.

Lucien glared at her. "Your apology for hitting me is accepted, thanks," he said through gritted teeth while rubbing his now-sore head. He sheathed his sword.

Rarity stopped in her tracks. "Oh, that was quite rude of me. I do apologize, but I have seen you take much harder hits than that." She darted into her kitchen. "Here, let me get you an ice-pack!" she called from the adjacent room.

"It's alright Rarity, I can manage!" he yelled to her. While she was trotting back into the room, he looked down to see what she had hit him with. His eyes widened in surprised as he noticed that it was the poleaxe that he had given her over the winter.

He pointed at it. "You kept that?" he asked, totally sidetracked from his original mission.

Rarity followed his gesture and noticed what he was talking about. She giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Well, I..." she bit her lip. "I found it quite fun to use, so I kept practicing with it." To demonstrate, she picked it up in her magic and spun it around her body faster than Lucien's eyes could follow. While the weapon was whipping around her, she continued to speak. "I was just preparing to go out and contribute to fighting back those undesirable creatures that have taken refuge in Ponyville. It would seem that the guard and the stallions could use some help." She paused a moment. "While Ponyville does get more than its fair share of disasters, it's surprising how many of us do not have the knowledge of how to fight and defend our town." She stopped the weapon's movements and let it hover gently by her side. "I believe now is the time to show them what can be done when we are attacked."

Before the two could say anything more, however they were interrupted by the sound of splintering wood and painful-sounding thumps. Lucien and Rarity looked up to see Aiden crashing through the ceiling of Carousel Boutique. Lucien took a single step back to avoid getting hit by wooden debris.

"Ugh!" he heard from somewhere in the pile.

"Oh, uh, Aiden! Um, how's it going out there?" Lucien said, knowing Aiden would be mad at him for retreating into the Boutique.

“Just got sent soaring across town by one of my own golems. Maybe even cracked a couple ribs. Doing just fine,” the man answered sarcastically as he laid in the pile of debris.

Lucien reached down a hand and hefted him up. “Back on your feet, then. We still have work to do. Or, rather, you still have work to do. I need to get this hole in my jeans repaired.”

Aiden regained his posture and held his frozen arm. “So that’s why you’re here?! Just because you had a hole burnt into your jeans?!” He facepalmed.

“Hey, man. Don’t hate on the jeans. I practically live in these things.” As Lucien spoke, he reached out a hand and thawed out Aiden’s frozen arm.

Aiden lifted his now unfrozen arm up and flexed his hand. “Thank you,” he commented, “But that doesn’t excuse you abandoning the fight.”

“Are you sure? I thought it was a pretty solid excuse. Jeans are really important, you know. Besides, Rarity and I were just about to go back out and continue fighting.”

“Erm,” Rarity spoke up for the first time since Aiden’s entrance. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. Nor was I aware another one of your kind is in Equestria, Lucien.” She took a step forward and held out a dainty hoof. “I am—”

"Rarity," he interrupted.

“Well, yes.” She blinked. “But how do you know that? Perhaps you’ve heard of my designs on… Earth, was it?” she asked with a hopeful eye-flutter.

Aiden shook his head. “I have indeed heard of your designs, but not on Earth. Lets say I have been doing a bit of undercover research of your world for three years whilst undetected until now.”

Lucien rubbed the back of his neck. “Nice phrasing there, dude…”

Rarity, for her part, looked horrified. “You’ve been spying on us?!”

“Not spying. You remember a unicorn by the name of Prism?” Aiden replied hastily.

“Well, yes, I do, but how does that—”

“That was me.”

“You must be joking. That can’t be possible!” Her eyes betrayed her. The statement was a lie and she knew it. “You ordered clothes from me…” She suddenly straightened up. “But that still doesn’t excuse you! Why were you lying to us about this for so long?”

“I was paranoid, or scared, rather. I kept myself isolated in the Everfree Forest to stay hidden, until I knew for sure it was safe for me to come out of hiding,” he answered. “I won’t ask you to forgive me for lying, nor will I ask you all to forgive me for bringing these disloyal abominations to lay waste to your town.”

She looked at him, her face devoid of any smile. “You aren’t forgiven, not yet. But I hope you are helping us destroy what you have created.” She looked back to Lucien, who was standing on the sidelines with an unreadable face. “We should go.” She flipped her poleaxe around and let it rest by her side, levitating gently in her magical grip.

Aiden looked over to Rarity and took notice of the weapon she held. “I’ve never noticed you knew how to use a weapon. Where did you get it?”

“Last winter. A horde of creatures from Earth invaded Ponyville. Lucien gave the girls and I weapons and we fought back.” She looked at Lucien. “I kept practicing with mine, but I’m not sure if the rest of the girls did the same. I suppose we’ll find out in a few minutes.”

“The rest of you have weapons as well? You think you’ve learned everything, but some things tend to elude you in isolation I guess,” he commented.

“Yes, well, if you had bothered to come out like this and introduce yourself, then maybe you would learn something.” Her voice was hard, betraying her feelings towards Aiden’s actions.

“Then I guess it wasn’t something that I thought was important at the time. I more or less just indulge myself in what your world had to offer.”

“Hmm. Let’s go,” Lucien broke in. “We have some work to get done.”

Aiden nodded and headed out the door. “Oh, and I will fix up this mess after this is all said and done. I promise,” he said before exiting the Boutique.

“Don’t worry, I’ll fix up the place!” Lucien called after him, but he was hardly listening by that point.

"That kid is gonna get himself killed one day." Lucien took a breath and straightened himself up. "Well, no sense in dawdling. Can you go check on Fluttershy? I need somepony to check on here, I have to go get back to Aiden."

"Of course dear, shouldn't be a problem at all." Rarity let her poleaxe levitate by her side and then took off running for the edge of town. His eyes tracked her progress as she killed monsters along the way, until she turned a corner and disappeared.

Lucien took off at a jog and nonchalantly sliced Aiden's ex-servants to bits as they approached him. Soon enough, he was approaching Twilight's library.

“Then why haven’t you used it?” he heard Twilight ask.

“It’s too much for me to handle. I can’t do it alone," Aiden said.

“Can’t do what now?” asked Lucien as he ran up, slightly out of breath. His eyes shifted to Aiden’s company. “Princesses,” he said respectfully.

“Well, there’s a spell I found a while back in case something like this happened. Only problem is that I don’t possess the magical power alone to cast it,” Aiden answered.

“So I can help you with it, then? What is it?” he asked.

“It’s a spell that will open a portal that will suck all the rogue servants back to their realms. Unfortunately, it can suck the caster in along with them if he or she isn’t able sustain it with their power alone.”

Lucien stared at him. “And… you’ve tested this before, right? Because I’ve messed with portal spells before, and that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”

Aiden shook his head. “I haven’t used it myself, per se, but it technically should work.”

Lucien just continued to stare. “Alright, but if half of Ponyville gets sucked into a different dimension, it’s coming out of your paycheck. And if I get stuck there with them, then you can be sure I’ll be back to kick your ass.”

“If this isn’t assurance for you then I don’t know what is. I came to Equestria on my own by opening an interdimensional portal using a spell I created. Took about a year, maybe longer, but that’s how I am here today. This particular spell just happens to be much more powerful than what I am used to.”

Lucien ran a hand through his hair and let out a breath. “Ah geez, alright. Just don’t screw up.” He looked out over the town. “Where are we gonna set it up?”

“The best spot would be the very center of town on top of Town Hall.”

Lucien held a hand on his forehead to block the sun’s rays as he looked towards the building. He then shrugged and looked back at Aiden. “I’m game. Let’s go.”

“Alright lets get there as quickly as possible.” Aiden turned around and started off towards Town Hall.

Before they could depart, however, Twilight rushed in front of them. “Hold on, you two are gonna go running off taking a chance on something that could potentially destroy the town!? What makes you think this is going to work!” she yelled.

Lucien rushed forward and pressed a finger to her lips harshly. “My wizard senses are telling me this will work. Now go make sure Fluttershy isn’t hurt while we nearly destroy the town.” Before she could retort, he whipped around, grabbed Aiden by the arm and sprinted off.

“Lucien! Get back here!” Twilight shouted, chasing after them.

“Nope!” he turned his head to yell. Then, to Aiden, “Can you run a little faster? She’s surprisingly quick.” He unsheathed his sword and quickly lopped the head off a nearby Watcher.

“Of course I can.” Aiden started to take bigger strides as he channelled his magic through his body. “How’s this?” He asked as he started to speed up.

"Better," Lucien said, though he didn't miss the strange look Aiden gave him.

After about ten minutes of running the duo finally made it to Town Hall. Lucien quickly scanned the area. A few streets off in the distance he spotted two ponies engaged in combat, one on the ground, one in the air. He immediately recognized them as Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

AJ was whipping around two chains wrapped around her forehooves, striking any monsters nearby and creating a near impenetrable barrier of metal. Dash was dive-bombing the taller creatures and slashing them quickly with a katana.

“Did you give them those?” Aiden asked Lucien.

“Yeah. Though Applejack only had one chain, last I saw.” He shrugged it off and looked up at the building before them. “Well, up we go.” Lucien unsheathed his sword, took aim, and hurled it up towards the top of the building. It spun through the air, then, when it stuck into the wood, Lucien teleported directly to be hanging off the handle.

Lucien dropped onto the roof and sheathed his sword. He looked down to see that Aiden had used multiple copies of himself to launch his real self onto the roof.

Aiden produced a marker in his hand and began drawing runes on the surface of the roof. “Can we get Rainbow Dash and Applejack to fight them off while I draw these runes? It’ll take some time to connect them all.”

“Yeah, and you’re gonna have to teach me those. I’ll paint them on the other side,” he said while removing a can of spray paint from his backpack. “HEY APPLEJACK! RAINBOW DASH! LITTLE HELP OVER HERE!”

Aiden facepalmed. “I could have just done that myself…”

Lucien turned around and shrugged. “Hey man, you asked.”

They both looked down at the sounds of skirmish and saw the two ponies had reached the building. Rainbow Dash flew up to talk to the two of them while Applejack stayed on the ground and fought back any enemies.

“Hey Lucien, whaddya need?” She peered by him to look at Aiden. “And who’s the guy?” she half-whispered to him.

“Hey, I’m right here you know,” Aiden stated flatly. “Name’s Aiden by the way.” He answered as he continued to draw the runes.

Dash just stared at him. “Uh, yeah. Anyways, what do you want? Can’t you see we’re busy fighting to take the town back, not like you two. What are you doing, even?” She looked at Aiden drawing on the roof. “Dude. Graffiti isn’t cool. I’m all up for pranks and stuff, but—”

“It’s not graffiti, we’re making runes. For a spell. To save the town,” Lucien interrupted. “So,” he clapped his hands together. “While we’re doing that, can you two,” he pointed to Rainbow and AJ down below, “Not let us get interrupted. It would suck a lot to mess this up.” Before Rainbow could respond, he pressed a finger to her mouth and leaned close to her face. “Like, a lot. So go kill things,” he whispered before nudging her off the roof.

“Hey!” She glared at him for a minute, but then looked down at AJ, holding her own against a group of monsters. “Fine, but you owe me!” With that bit out of the way, she sped down to go hold the ground.

“Yeah, yeah.” He turned back to Aiden and popped the lid off his can of spray paint. “So, what am I vandalizing?”

The man pointed to an area that spanned half of the circular roof. "I need you to cover the other end of the roof with the runes. You got any paper by any chance so I can give you the other half of the runes?"

Lucien stared at him. “The world is paper. Just draw them all out and I’ll copy them.”

Aiden pointed to a finished set of runes. “This what they’ll look like. Repeat the pattern on the other side and the runes should connect to each other.”

He studied them for a moment. “Alright, I’ve got it.” He shook the can and began painting. After a couple of strokes, he spoke up again. “You know, these look an awful lot like the runes I used when I was trying to summon that demon that one time. Fine choice.”

“Yes they do, and they are technically. Many of them are drawn in reverse order and inverted so that when the spell is cast, it sucks in any summoned creatures within its radius instead of pulling anything out,” Aiden took a deep breath. “Now you know why this spell is so damn powerful.”

“So it was really a bad thing when my cat screwed it up? Got me here, so it couldn’t have been that bad…” he trailed off.

Aiden ignored Lucien’s comment as he finished finished off the rest of the runes on his end. “Okay my end’s done. How about you?”

“Still working. These things are complicated as hell, and I never use runes anyway. I’m a little rusty, but they’ll work.” He kept spraying paint onto the surface of the roof.

Aiden turned his head to check on Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “Well, you’d best hurry that up. Those two won’t last much longer. Ugh, I’m so stupid for even summoning such things.”

He painted on a few more lines hastily. “How are they doing? And damn right you are.”

“Looks like they’re tiring out really fast,” He looked back to Lucien. “You done connecting the runes?”

“Just…about…” he paused and peered over the edge of the building. “Done!” He sprayed one final dot onto a rune he was making, then hurled the can off the building, down towards the masses of enemies Rainbow Dash and Applejack were trying to hold off. With a flourish, he withdrew his sword and pointed it at the can as it hit the ground. “Get out of the way!” he shouted to the ponies.

The two fighters looked up at him and quickly dodged into the building. Lucien’s sword glowed for a split-second, and a small shot of energy sparked out the top.

Lucien grinned. The can exploded, instantly destroying several monsters within its small radius and splattering the rest with black paint. Before those who had been stained could react, the paint covering them melted into them and reduced them to puddles of goop on the ground.

Aiden looked the runes over to make sure they were inscribed appropriately. After a thorough inspection he decided it was time to activate them. He channeled magic into his hand and pressed it against the runes. “Back to the abyss!” he shouted, almost hurting Lucien's ears. "Be a little more dramatic with that, why don't you?"

“You were right about this being powerful! This is straining even my power reserves!” Lucien shouted to Aiden from the opposite side of the roof.

“Just...keep it up! There isn’t that much to go!” Aiden shouted. Lucien felt the spell begin slowing down, losing power. He added as much mana as he could spare to keep it going.

“Hey! Don’t go passing out on me! We haven’t cleared out the town yet!” Lucien tried to sound reassuring as he could, but he was beginning to feel the strain of holding it up.

"Almost done." Lucien watched as the last few creatures flew into the portal and disappeared. The whole thing shut off and closed in on itself moments after the final monster fell in.

Lucien lowered his arms and let out a shaky sigh. He looked up and saw Aiden stumble on the edge of the roof and fall off, head over heels. He sprinted forward to the edge and looked down to see Rainbow Dash and Applejack below, taking a rest after their fights. "GRAB HIM!" he shouted down desperately.

Applejack was the first to react. Her head snapped up to notice Aiden's unresponsive body plummeting to the ground. She leapt back, then stood up on her hind legs to attempt to break the man's fall. She was well positioned, as Aiden crashed right into her, knocking them both down. Lucien breathed a sigh of relief.

“Nice catch, AJ,” said Lucien as he floated down gently from the rooftop. “Also everything’s dead, technically, so job well-done. You’ve gotten pretty good with those chains.”

Thank you kindly. Now, would ya mind telling me who this fella’ is?” she said, gesturing to Aiden as she gently rolled him onto the grass.

Aiden breathed heavily with his right hand over his heart. “Name’s Aiden,’ he strained an answer. “Ah’ was the one who summoned those damned things. They weren’t supposed to leave the Everfree, but Ah’ miscalculated.” He raised his hand to his head. “To be even more honest Ah’ was also that pony named Prism that would come strollin’ into town every once in a while,” he took in a deep breath. “Ah’ve been in Equestria for three years, and remained in secret inside the Everfree doing research on your world,” He struggled to sit up to continue. “If anything, Ah’m sorry for everything really. Ah’ll do what it takes to fix up your town. Then Ah’ll be sure to exile myself after.”

“I…uh…that’s a lot to take in, partner.” She stood over him and offered a hoof. “How ‘bout we get this mess cleaned up and you can explain yourself afterwards?”

Aiden took it and rose to his feet.

“Yeah, we left a bit of a mess,” said Lucien. But before he could continue, Celestia and Twilight walked up to join their group.

“It worked! We were fighting those things in front of the library and then they got sucked into your portal! I can’t believe you made that work!” Twilight said excitedly.

“It was a most admirable feat,” said Celestia humbly, her eyes focused on Aiden. “Although I expect these damages to be cleaned up post-haste. By you, Aiden.”

Aiden bowed his head. “Of course. I would do anything to atone for my mistakes.” He tried to take a step forward, but his leg couldn’t take the weight. He stumbled, but Applejack rushed up and braced against his side.

“You ain’t in any condition to work. You need to get some rest.” She looked up at Celestia. “D’you mind if he takes a quick nap by the farm, princess? He looks pretty spent.”

Celestia unfurled a wing, pointing it towards AJ’s farm. “Then go. He does look exhausted.”

As the two began walking, Lucien piped up. “What, don’t I look tired too? I was right there with him! Don’t I deserve a nap?” he asked.

“WHAT THE BUCK JUST HAPPENED!” said a loud, angry voice, accompanied by the sound of splintering wood. Lucien gasped, his eyes locking directly on to the Town Hall building.

A furious Mayor Mare burst out of the Town Hall building. Her eyes quickly locked onto Lucien, as he was standing just by the door. “YOU! I KNEW YOU WERE NOTHING BUT TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN!”

“Hey, don’t blame me!” he shouted, holding his hands up in a show of innocence. His eyes locked on to Aiden’s and he gave the smallest of grins. “Blame him! It was his idea!” he yelled and pointed at Aiden.

“Oh shit,” Lucien heard him mumble. Aiden quickly spun back around and started to pick up the pace.

Mayor Mare let off another shout of rage. "THERE’S ANOTHER ONE—"

“Mayor Mare,” Celestia’s calm voice cut through the mayor’s like a hot knife through butter. “If I may have a word?”

“Eh heh. Heh heh heh…” Mayor Mare whimper out. “I apologize, Princess, but Ponyville is destroyed!”

“Yes it is, but it shall be cleaned up and rebuilt. That man walking away is responsible for this carnage, and as such, shall be the one to fix up the town. He’s just suffering from mana exhaustion,” Celestia calmed the mayor down like a true professional.

"Well, now, it wasn't entirely his fault..." Lucien began, but trailed off as four pairs of eyes stared him down. "Okay, I take it back, it was entirely his fault, but stuff like this happens. Don't be too hard on the guy." Lucien looked down at the ground. "He's been through a lot..."

Author's Notes:

AND IT'S FINALLY DONE! AH HA! AH HA HA HA!

Sorry it took forever to get out, but almost 100% of this one required both me and the author behind Aiden and Wandering Prey.

But, yeah, I can write a bit more now. This marks the last chapter of Arc 2 with extended interaction between Aiden and Lucien, so I should be able to do faster work by myself.

Cheers.

Chapter 25: In the Clouds

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!"

"LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAAAAAAAAINNNNNN!" The music quickly slowed down and faded out into the background noise of the late-afternoon sounds. All the ponies that were participating in the song fell to the collapsed on the ground, their funny-looking outfits getting slightly dirty and their hats toppling off their heads.

Lucien picked himself up off the ground and magically switched out of his sloppy-looking tuxedo + hunchback costume and back into his regular clothes, a grin stretched across his face. He looked around at all the ponies on the ground, each one breathing hard from the physically exhausting song. "Wow, everyone, that was fantastic!"

Twilight Sparkle stood up behind him. "Great. Just don't ever have us sing that song again. I don't know how we all managed to know the words to a song only found on your planet, but I've had enough of impossible things from Pinkie Pie, so I'll just let it go this time."

Upon hearing Twilight's final words, Lucien's eyes widened and his eyebrows shot up. "That's a great idea!" He sucked in breath and prepared himself. "Let it gooo! Let it goooooo! Let it—oof!" He stopped suddenly as a hoof slammed into his stomach, knocking the wind out of his lungs.

"No. More. Singing," said Rainbow Dash through gritted teeth. "That last one was more than enough!"

"You can't stop the funk!" said Lucien weakly, doubled over in pain.

"If that's another lame song from your planet, keep it to yourself!" Rainbow shouted, raising her hoof again threateningly. "What am I even wearing, anyway?" She was, in fact, wearing an outfit that could be misconstrued as sexy, if it weren't obviously meant for the opposite gender when the opposite gender is pretending to be her gender.

"At least you didn't get what I got! This is positively garish!" Rarity contributed, wearing an outfit that would not be out of place at one of Earth's New Years' Eve parties.

"I think we all look great!" said Pinkie Pie, bouncing in, wearing a costume best suited for cleaning a house; with a somehow-fitting frizzy red wig. "That was fun! What other songs do you know, Lucien?"

"Well, there's this one—" he stopped mid-sentence as Rainbow gave him a very threatening glare. "I don't know any other songs Pinkie, sorry," he stated as if he was reading lines off a sheet of paper.

Rainbow gave him an approving nod and flew away, no doubt going to find something helpful to do.

The whole town, now that Lucien and Aiden had removed all of the monsters, was working to make quick repairs to buildings that had been partially destroyed or took fire damage. Virtually every pony was helping the effort, and already after a meager two hours was making massive progress towards getting the town to look like itself again. Aiden was still resting, his mana reserves critically low, as Lucien observed when they had finished.

"Man, that kid's got some serious ambition to try to undertake a spell like that. Or maybe some serious gonads." He shrugged internally. "Either way, that spell would have been almost too much for me to handle alone, and he was gonna attempt it by himself. There's attempting to fix your errors and then there's just plain suicidal."

"Yo, Lucien! Help me move this!" Dash shouted from across the street. She was trying to move a support beam into place on a building that had taken some heavy damage. If he recalled correctly, he had launched a golem into that very building when it tried to trip him as he ran past. Though that might have been a different building. He had done a lot of running.

He wrapped the beam in his aura and lifted it up with considerable strain on his mind. It seemed that he still hadn't fully recovered from casting that spell. Rainbow fluttered back as Lucien carefully guided the beam back into its former place and held it their while several unicorns walked forward and cast a spell to put all the shards of wood back together, effectively remaking the support like it was just built yesterday.

Lucien quickly lost himself in the tasks he took on, many magic-related. After another ten minutes of working he popped open a can of alchemically-enhanced soda, withdrawn from his backpack, and chugged the contents. His mana reserves took a temporary boost as the drink quickly infused his body with a sugar-rush-esque influx of power. He figured it would be enough to get him through the rest of the day.

And get him through the rest of the day it did. By the time the sun went down and darkness swept over Ponyville, a good chunk of the town had been cleaned up and put back into shape. Lucien's house, being just on the edge of the Everfree Forest, was thankfully unharmed from the fighting. He stumbled in through the door and shambled upstairs, shrugging off his equipment and letting it just lay on the stairs. He tumbled into bed and fell into a deep magic-exhaustion-induced slumber.

"So he's still at Applejack's?" Lucien asked Twilight. They had met up when he woke that morning. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and yawned while Twilight answered. The sun had risen a meager thirty minutes ago, and the two of them were still tired from using too much magic the day before.

"As far as I can tell, yes. He didn't come back into town last night, same with AJ." They were both currently en route to the cowpony's farm.

It didn't take long before they reached the Apple family's house. After knocking on the door, they were waved in by a friendly Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. They pointed with hooves upstairs, indicating that there were still sleeping ponies. Twilight gave a smile in return and Lucien offered a small wave as they walked up the creaking wooden stairs. As they moved down the hallway, the two heard voices coming from behind a door.

"—don't have to disappear after cleaning your mess. We'll forgive you eventually." It sounded like Applejack.

"I really don’t want to cause anymore trouble than I have. I feel as if I already overstayed my welcome here," came the voice of Aiden.

Lucien opened the door, despite the frantic silent protests of Twilight and made a swift interception of the conversation. "You what now?"

Aiden gawked. "Uhm, hi."

“Yeah, so, just came to make sure you weren’t dead. That’s important. Mana exhaustion is the leading cause of magically induced deaths,” Lucien said cheerfully.

“He’s fine now, just needed a good night’s sleep,” she said. Lucien took note that her cheeks were tinged slightly red, but from what he couldn't know. He didn't comment on it.

“That’s also helpful. Oh!” he suddenly flung his backpack around and unzipped it. “Here,” he said, tossing Aiden a can of soda, which he barely caught, surprised by the sudden flying cylinder. “Drink it, I made it myself. Restores mana. It’s like a Red Bull for magic.”

“Okay,” Aiden replied raising a brow. The can made a hiss as he pulled the tab open. He took a sip, and immediately brightened up. Holding back a burp, "Whoa," he said.

Lucien shot him a grin. "Yeah, it does that. Anyway, we still have work to do.” He held up his hand to stop, as if suddenly realizing something. “Wait, you have some work to do. I should probably get going to Cloudsdale. Twilight?” he turned around to look at her, then pointed. “You’re coming with me.”

“What? Why?” she asked, clearly confused.

Lucien shrugged. “I’m lonely.”

“Aww, and I guess you might want your favorite blanket too?” Aiden interjected mockingly.

Lucien spun back around, still pointing, though now at Aiden. “And you can shut your face. Now,” he pointed upward and said, “We go!”

He made it through the house and part of the way through the orchard before realizing that Twilight was not following him. With a short groan, he spun around and headed back to the farm house.

Upon reaching the bedroom again, he heard voices... again. Aiden was explaining how his illusion magic works. "...Mainly focuses on messing with the minds of your opponents. Good for quick getaways, or at least that’s what I tend to use it for. I create clones of myself, or even mess with my opponent’s mind so much that they begin to see things that aren’t really there,” he pondered for a brief moment, “But that doesn’t mean the magic is any less dangerous. The illusions can do some real damage to the mind of the one it’s affecting, and do physical harm as well.”

“Fascinating. So you can control illusions of yourself? Are they physically present? Can they manipulate objects like we can?” he heard Twilight's voice ask.

“Yes, yes, and yes,” Aiden answered.

“Hmm…” Lucien was done listening. Twilight let out a surprised yelp as he reached his hand in from the hallway and snagged her, pulling her out of the room. “Hey! I wasn’t done!”

"Sucks to suck, we've gotta get going," Lucien said, ignoring the little hoofy-kicks she was landing on his arms as he carried her down the stairs.

She harrumphed in defeat and relaxed, allowing Lucien to better hold her as they left the house. They attracted odd stares from Granny Smith and Applebloom, both of whom were sitting at the dining table, eating a pancake breakfast.

"Can you put me down now," asked Twilight when they were halfway through the orchard.

"Uh, yes. Sorry." Lucien put the pony on the ground.

She brushed some non-existent dirt off her shoulder and looked at him in irritation. "What was all that about?"

"We have a job to do. We should get going today," Lucien replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

She gave him a look. "You're strangely eager to get started on a job," she said suspiciously.

He opened his mouth to quickly deny it, but instead let out a defeated sigh. "Well, I'm not sure how stable Aiden is. He's a nice kid, but he's still a very young mage, hell, even I'm still a young mage. He's been through a lot already, and he was willing to commit a spell that he knew would kill him if he tried it alone. I..." he took a breath. "That's not to say he's just gonna blow up at any second, but..." He stopped walking. "There are things where I am from that make nightmares look like daydreams. I'm not exactly sure what happened to him, or how long ago it was, but it's still affecting him."

Twilight stopped a few feet ahead of him and turned around. "I won't pretend to understand what your world is like. But you're both here now, not there. Nothing is going to hurt you here, in Canterlot, or wherever we go. I won't allow it." The mare had firm determination in her eyes it voice.

"Thanks, Twilight." Lucien's face brightened up. "Now c'mon, I want a ride in that hot air balloon you told me about!"

About an hour later, they were breaking through the clouds to find the city of Cloudsdale. Lucien couldn't help but laugh like an idiot while looking around at the decorations, and the sheer idea of making a city out of clouds. "Wait, this place is literally made of clouds, right?"

"Yes," Twilight answered, fluttering out onto the clouds with her still-somewhat-new wings. Satisfied, she took a few steps out, then turned around and smiled. "Do you need help with the spell?"

"Nah, I think I got it. Though I probably won't be able to step on any land for the next week or so. Or until I dispell it." They watched as his feet glowed a light blue for a moment, then flashed brightly. When they could see again, his shoes were ordinary as ever.

"Why is that?" asked Twilight, confused.

"Because," Lucien said, stepping out onto the cloud street with complete confidence in his spellweaving, "I took a look at my shoes and changed the surface they're calibrated to walk on to clouds instead of ground. So I don't know what would happen if I tried to walk on the ground with these. Maybe just sink through it like I would with a cloud." He shrugged.

"But enough of that," he continued. "This place is amazing! Well, except for the disgusting amount of rainbows, but still amazing. Humanity has been dreaming about flying cities forever. A couple of people I know would freak out seeing this place. Anyway, we should find a hotel? This might take more than a day to figure out."

"That would be for the best, yes. Spike should be alright on his own for a while, but I don't want to be gone for too long." She sighed. "Who knows what that dragon will get up to?"

Spike sighed as he finished off another tub of ice cream. He sunk to the floor and let the tub roll off to the side. He patted his bulging belly and let off an undignified burp. "When Twilight's away, the Spike will play... heh heh heh."

Lucien blinked away the vision, electing not to tell Twilight about it. He set off walking, ignoring the stares given to him and Twilight by seemingly every pegasus that passed by them. "Hey," he said to her, pointing at an extremely large and modern-looking building that stood out among the city, "do you think that's the Skyline Corporation?"

"Hmm?" Twilight looked up from her levitating maps and followed his gesture. "Yes, I believe so. Luna did say it's 'big in Cloudsdale.'"

Lucien stopped in his tracks and stared at her.

"What."

"Did you just make that pun?"

"What?"

"Biggest building in the city. 'Big in Cloudsdale?'"

"...It was Luna, I swear."

Lucien held back a sigh. "She is a bad influence..."

The pair, directed by Twilight made their way to the nearest hotel and bought a two-bed room for an undefined amount of days. Lucien was able to pay for it all himself, using funds "paid" to him by Celestia. The receptionist, to her credit, didn't so much as give the odd pair a second look as she led them to their room.

They settled in immediately and fell asleep talking to each other about magical theories and what tomorrow would hold for them.

"Sir?"

"Hmm?"

"That human and the Element of Magic arrived in the city earlier, sir."

"Oh, yes. Of course. Thank you."

"Not at all, sir. Anything else?"

"Hrmm... yes. I want you to..."

Author's Notes:

As promised, here's another shorter chapter, out faster.

On another note, I have no idea what happened with the beginning of this chapter.

Except this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg-vgGuTD8A

Chapter 26: Already?

"Look, I understand what you want to do, but it's too reckless! You'll get them all killed!"

"It will work, you just have to give it a chance! My plans have never failed, and this one won't either!"

"No! I will not allow you to endanger my employees like this!"

Lucien looked at her, disgusted. "You say you care for them this much, and all you can address them as is your 'employees'?"

"...You know that's not true. I'm so used to calling them that when negotiating, it just... slipped out."

"No, I think that's exactly how you think of them, Charlotte. I'll just do it myself." he spat.

"Lucien, wait! You can't just walk like this! You know what will happen..."

He turned around to face her, hand on the door already. "Yes, I do. I'll be fine, and I'll live with the consequences." He exited the room and slammed the door behind him. "I can't believe it came to this..."

Lucien awoke to the sound of knocking at his door. Bleary-eyed he stood up and pulled his shirt on, then slung his backpack on by force of habit. Knocking came from the door again. "Coming! I'm coming..." He stumbled in the near-darkness towards where he thought the door was. His hand eventually found the handle, and he opened it.

A pegasus pony was waiting outside for him. He was earth-brown with an auburn mane. Lucien couldn't make out any of his facial features due to the fact that he was backlit by some light behind him. "Lucien the Magician?" he asked.

"What?"

"Are you Lucien the Magician?"

"Uh, apparently."

The pony held out a paper. "This is for you."

Lucien took it hesitantly. "Thanks?"

"Don't be late." The pony turned around and walked away, leaving Lucien completely confused. And tired.

"Uh... What?" He shut the door and turned around, flicking on the light as he did so.

"What's going on?" asked Twilight, yawning as she woke up.

"There was somepony at the door. Gave me a letter." He held it up to show her.

"Why so early?" she asked, checking the clock nearby. "It's barely even 5:30."

"Dunno. Let me open this." He tore open the envelope and removed its contents. A simple piece of off-white paper, with a gilded insignia on the top.

From the House of Iron

---

Lord Ironwing of the Skyline Corporation hereby requests the presence of Lucien the Magician at the Cloudsdale branch of Skyline Corporation at approximately 6:30 AM on this day. Please bring any and all manners possible. No additional guests will be admitted.

---

From the House of Iron

He crumpled up the paper, tossed it in the air, and ignited it with a thought.

Twilight recoiled back, despite being far away from the sudden combustion. "Lucien! Why did you do that!?" she yelled at him, now wide awake.

He fixed a cold glare upon Twilight and she shrunk back into the bed from the force of it. "Because," he started, "I am not letting this guy play games with me." He yanked open the door, stomped out, then slammed it shut again. Twilight could hear the lock bolt into place with enough force to splinter the wood.

"Oh boy..."

Skyline Corporation was just beginning to open. The all-glass doors were being polished to the point of being nearly invisible, but then ponies would run into them, and the janitor, Spit Spot, couldn't have that. So, to make sure the glass wasn't absolutely transparent, he made sure to throw on some cloud-dust each time he finished shining an area of glass.

Unbeknownst to him, the building manager and receptionist secretly hated him for not making the glass completely spotless.

But that stopped mattering to all parties involved as the glass doors were suddenly shattered inward.

"W-w-what!" shouted Spit Spot as a strange bipedal creature walked through the newly destroyed doors.

An aura of energy surrounded Lucien as he slowly walked across the main lobby. It was still too early for other workers and desk clerks to have shown up, so the area was empty. The only noise came from his footsteps and the constant hum and crackle of the magic surrounding Lucien.

He pushed a hand out to his side, and one of the elevator doors shot open, creating new space within the walls. He walked in, taking note of the large lever on the side where an operator would probably stand. His hand wrapped around the top of the lever, then he yanked it down, busting the upper half off. A gate shut in front of him, then he shot up, ascending the floors of the building.

Lucien poked the button half-heartedly, sending the elevator gracefully sliding down the floors of the modern building. His eyes wandered to his riding companion, a teen, by the looks of him. He had shaggy, spiky hair and wore a thin white jacket over a black shirt. A belt covered in blunt spikes held his torn jeans up, and an interesting-looking book was secured to his waist with a simple leather strip.

"What are you looking at, man?" the teen questioned, noticing Lucien's gaze.

"...Nothing," Lucien replied, out of energy.

"Aw, man, you just came out of White's conference room didn't you? That chick always puts a scare in people." The kid's gaze lightened.

"Heh. Charlotte always was like that... Tell me, what's it like working here?"

"Hmm?" He seemed caught off-guard by the question. "It's alright, I guess. Pay's more than enough for me, and I handle it all pretty well... I'm kinda new here, still."

"Oh? When did you join up?"

"Just a few months ago."

"Damn, you are still pretty new. Where'd she send you?"

"Havana. Had to deal with an Arbiter that got too big for its britches."

"An Arbiter, huh? Any help?"

"Yeah, brought a few friends along for the ride. They were pretty stoked we got to hang out on the beach after we killed it."

"Sounds fair. Speaking of, what kind of magic do you use?"

The teen unclipped the book attached to his waist. Now that Lucien could look at it better, he noticed it was a type of Grimoire. Judging by the runes drawn on the front and the multicolored gems set into the surface, he guessed it was an Elemental-type.

"Tome Magic, mostly. I got a few pages from my trip down there. Some good scores, I'd say. And the Company even let me keep everything I found there. Pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. What do you do?" He clipped the book back on to his belt.

Lucien motioned to his dagger. He shrugged. "A little bit of everything, really. Call me a Something-mancer."

He didn't notice the teen's shocked expression. "Wait, does that mean you're...?"

Lucien looked at him, surprised. "What now?"

"You're Lucien the Magician! One of the founders! Oh my god! Wait until my friends hear that I met you in an elevator! They'll be shocked!"

"Hold on, you know who I am?" Lucien asked, completely bewildered.

"Duh! You're only everywhere in the system! Credited with creating the Company along with White! Oh man, everyone's heard of what you're doing!"

"...And what is it I'm doing?"

"Going around the country kicking monster ass! They say you always work alone, and you've taken out Behemoths the size of cities all by yourself! Is that true?!" Lucien found it hard to resist the teen's enthusiasm, but it was a bit awkward for him.

"Well, that was one time, and saying it was the size of a city is a bit of an exaggeration..." He rubbed the back of his neck, his face red.

"Wow! That's so cool!"

Lucien took a moment to gather his thoughts. "What if..."

"Hey, you said you have some friends that helped you with that Arbiter, right?"

"Uh, yeah, why?"

"Because I got wind that there's a Stone Titan outside Denver, and I can't quite take it on my own..."

The elevator dinged as it hit ground floor, and the pair were lost among the crowds of young magicians milling around the lobby.

The elevator dinged as it hit top floor, the only sound in the otherwise quiet building. "There is no way in hell I'm letting this guy screw with me. I don't play games!" Lucien stepped out into the hall.

A secretary's desk sat off to the right, its surface covered in various papers and notices, along with a coffee cup that was undoubtedly left over from the previous night. The large glass windows lining the hallway would have let in ample light if it weren't for the fact that the sun had yet to rise.

Lucien stomped across the hall, making for the larger-than-life double doors that he hoped would lead into Ironwing's office. He drew in a breath once he reached his destination, steadying himself for the confrontation.

"Ironwing!" he shouted, kicking the doors open loudly.

"Freeze!" a few shouts echoed back at him.

"What?" he asked, confused and blinded by the sudden harsh light shining directly at his face.

"Lower your magic levels and place your extremities on the ground!" came a single shout over the rest.

"What?" he asked, even more confused.

"You are under arrest for breaking and entering and destruction of property, now surrender or we will take action!" came the voice again.

"Oh, it's just the police. Great." "Hold up! Turn down those lights, I can't see!"

"That's the point! Now surrender or we will use force!"

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." "I'll just get those for you!" Lucien shouted, before using his magic to dim the lights down to a level acceptable for his eyes.

Now that he could see, he could adequately assess the situation. And that situation seemed pretty bad. For him, that is.

Police pegasai were stationed behind desks and barriers all across the wide circular room. More than a few strange-looking weapons were pointed at him, undoubtedly ready to electrocute him or otherwise do him bodily harm.

"Hey, uh, I'm here on assignment from-" "Wait, I don't think Celestia and Luna'll want me spreading that one around. Shit." "-myself, I guess. But don't worry, I'm totally on your side! Ironwing's done... something wrong, and I'm here to stop him! He even summoned me here, let me just get the invite..."

He tried to reach inside his pocket but was stopped by a sudden sharp pain erupting from his lower back. "Ooooouch!" he exclaimed as electricity coursed through his body. It stopped and he dropped to a knee. "Okay, this is bad. I don't want to fight back, and I don't want to go to jail. Or be fined, gross."

"Okay, is there any way this ends without me going to jail or beating you all up?!" he asked, futilely.

"No, sir! You're going to jail! And you're getting fined!" Lucien was able to spot a pony in the back of the room shouting at him through some kind of loudspeaker.

He winced. "How about I just give you all some bits and we forget all of this ever happened!"

One police pony whispered to the loudspeaker pony, but was quickly swatted by the loud pony. "No! Now surrender!"

"Great." "Alright, alright, I give!" He lowered himself onto both of his knees. A pegasus pony dashed forward and slapped a magic-nullification cuff onto his wrist. It pinched. Annoyingly. "Guess that's not made for humans, huh?"

"Up you go now, nice and easy." He was quickly surrounded by a fair amount of pegasai, all ready to shoot him at the first sign of motion.

They marched him down the building and past the janitor that he had passed on the way in. "Hooligan!" he shouted, raising a hoof in anger.

They reached the lobby floor. Pegasus police ponies were abuzz, flying around the place. Some were taking pictures of the area and Lucien, which he dislike greatly, and some seemed to be assessing the front doors and elevator for damage. They marched out the front door, and Lucien's heart dropped when he saw what was waiting for him.

A mob of concerned-looking ponies greeted his arrival. They surrounded the chariots and took up a fair part of the street. Some looked like they were just arriving for work, others looked like they came out of their houses or apartments to see what the noise was. He had a feeling they weren't worried on his behalf. He was led to a caged chariot, then forced inside of it.

"Twilight's gonna be so pissed..."

Author's Notes:

Rewritten.

Chapter 27: Locked Up

"'So if you could bail me out, that would be really great, thanks.' That's the letter you send to me from jail?!" Twilight yelled at Lucien from behind a set of cast-iron bars. She threw the paper to the ground in anger.

"How was I supposed to know the police would show up so quickly?! That was record time by Earth standards! And all I did was respond to the invite, they're the ones that overreacted!" Lucien shot back from inside the cell.

"They overreacted?! What about how you acted after getting that note?! You looked ready to level a building, when all he did was invite you to meet him at Skyline!"

"You don't know how these people operate, Princess," Lucien hissed through clenched teeth. "They're all the same. Big, benevolent businessmen on the outside, cunning, ruthless, scheming on the inside. All Ironwing wants to do is toy with me, and I'm not giving him that opportunity." Lucien's eyes blazed.

Twilight tried to keep a neutral face, but several muscles around her lips failed her. "You can't be sure that he's bad. I know what the Princesses said, but there's no evidence that he's involved in all this yet. All we have on him is some minor misconducts in the past and the word of Bronze Gear, who tried to kill me." Twilight attempted to maintain eye contact, but couldn't return Lucien's furious glare.

"You're not listening! All the signs are there; I even talked to Bronze myself! I know he's up to something and we can't let him go through with it! Remember the magic neutralizing bomb?" Twilight's face paled. "That could have been so much worse if Bronze didn't rush to confront us the way she did. If we don't get to Ironwing quickly, what he's coming up with can potentially be even more destructive!"

Twilight took a step back. He didn't like the look she was giving him suddenly. "You... you need to calm down. This isn't like you to be so... so angry."

"How can I calm down when this thing has every chance of blowing up on us and you're too short-sighted to even see it!" Lucien roared. As he let out his anger, he felt a sharp smattering of metal shards on his face. Confused, he looked down to see that the magic inhibitor on his wrist had exploded, overloaded by the amount of magic his emotions were letting out. Shock overtook his features, and he looked up to Twilight.

Fear and distrust were present in her eyes. She had taken another step away from the bars of the cell, one foreleg positioned over the other in a classic fight or flight stance. Lucien's anger left him immediately. "Twilight... I..." He reached a hand out gently.

"...I can't believe how this has changed you. So quickly, too. What happened to you to make you this way?" she asked softly, looking away. Lucien opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off. "Don't. I just- I can't be around you right now." She looked down the hallway, then ran off, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Wait, Twilight!" Lucien called out futilely. She was gone.

He sighed and let his gaze fall to the floor. He looked at the shattered pieces of the magic inhibitor and, with a quick spell, gathered them all back together in their original form around his wrist. It wouldn't function, but it would at least look like it did. He fully intended to wait out his time in custody instead of escaping. In his experience being on the side of the law was always better than not.

The creature's massive rocky hand crashed down to the earth, instantly forming a gigantic crater and stirring up dust that would blind anyone nearby. The Stone Titan bellowed, a low, reverberating sound that shook the ground and stirred the bones of the six people engaged in combat with it.

As its maw was closing, a huge fireball found its way in and exploded in a fiery burst. When the smoke cleared, there was naught but a new scorch mark across its earthen features. Several golden bolts of lightning flashed and struck the creature's torso and arms. It let out another rage-filled roar, but was otherwise unharmed.

"Ian and Anthony are down! We're not doing anything to this thing!" Eric shouted to Lucien. He had his Grimoire open and floating in front of him. Pure magic flashed wildly around his form, and spells of all elemental types would lash out every few seconds at the gargantuan enemy before them.

"Just keep shooting, we need to get it's weak spot open for a shot, just like we planned!" Lucien shouted back. His arms hadn't stopped moving for the whole fight, constantly in motion forming and casting spells. His concentration had so far been unwavering, but he when the last teammate of his went down he almost lost it.

More spells impacted the beast's chest and head, yet none seemed to leave a mark more severe than some light burns. He watched as the Stone Titan launched his arm downward for another attack, this time aimed at him. Acting quickly, he slashed the air in a pattern several times with his dagger, then held it horizontally up in the air.

A slightly reflective dome made up of hexagons shimmered into existence around him just as the Titan's arm hit home. He grunted with the effort of holding the shield, but it held. As soon as the pressure began to lessen, the shield shattered outward, doing slight damage to the Titan's rocky hand. Lucien saw his opportunity.

He gathered up the residual magic energy from when his shield exploded and used it to propel him upward in a higher jump. He grabbed on to the Stone Titan's arm and held tight. "Keep firing!" he yelled to Eric, who was trying to direct the other mages they had brought, Kelsey and Emily. Eric looked up at him for a moment, and his face fell slack.

"Be careful!" Emily shouted up to him while trying to direct her bolts of lightning away from his form.

Lucien thought fast. He cast a spell to anchor him to the Titan's body, then, while still climbing, removed his backpack. He reached in and quickly retrieved a set of stone tablets and a roll of duct tape. Each tablet had an identical set of runes etched perfectly into its surface.

The Stone Titan was ignoring him. It just continued to attack his teammates down below. The arm he was magically attached to suddenly slammed into the ground, and he looked up for a moment to see Kelsey get ejected to the side, flung by the force of the monster's arm hitting the ground. Her compound bow shattered into pieces across the ground. He heard Emily call out her name, but shut it out quickly. He had to stay focused.

He levitated the tablets and duct tape around him and rapidly manipulated them. He began running up the Titan's arm, moving quickly towards the head. As he went up, he taped the tablets to the creature's rocky surface. As he passed each one, he would tap on its surface quickly, causing the runes on it to glow a deep red.

He eventually made it all the way up, stopping for a moment to rest and check his progress on the Titan's shoulder. The monster's right arm had at least six of his tablets hastily duct taped on in different places. In his arms were four more tablets.

A scream from below attracted his attention. He looked down just in time to see Eric's body get flung off into the distance. His Grimoire was tossed into the air, where it hovered for a moment before disintegrating in a flash of purple light. Lucien quickly taped the final four tablets on the Titan's head, his mind devoid of all thought and emotion.

He activated his tablets; they all were now glowing red. His face neutral, he raised his hand up in the air. It pulsed red twice rapidly. The stones he taped onto the Titan's surface mimicked the pattern. Then they exploded.

The Stone Titan's arm was destroyed first, disappearing in a brilliant ball of red, magical flame. The explosion began down by its hand, each tablet blowing in the order that he activated them. They detonated like shaped charges, their force shattering the Titan's stone surface and destroying everything all the way through it's arm's center.

As the explosions reached its shoulder, Lucien leapt off, then teleported to the ground. He escaped just as the first one went off, cutting a crater in the side of its head. The other side detonated next, making an identical crater opposite to the first one. The final explosion decimated what was left, that one containing two of Lucien's tablets. The blast dug down to the Stone Titan's center, obliterating any matter inside and reaching through it.

The body, or what was left of it, crumbled to pieces, many boulders scorched and stained a deep red from the magic. With his job done, Lucien looked back at the destruction. The mountainside where their battle had taken place was now just a giant crater. Smaller craters were littered around here and there, each letting off a trail of sulfurous smoke.

The sound of crying reached his ears. He looked up from what he had caused and over at the prone form of Emily. She was clutching the arm of someone, but he couldn't make it out. His mind substituted 'Kelsey,' but he couldn't let the thought affect him. He couldn't face her now. Not now.

He pulled a small bone out of his backpack and lowered himself to one knee. Before he left, he saw Emile crane her head around to look at him with her tear-stained face. He saw nothing but betrayal.

The next night, he returned to the battlefield, the site long since cooled off. He opened up his backpack, removed some objects, then placed them on the ground. He departed shortly after.

Days later, locals found nothing at the crater but stone objects. A bow, a book, a sledgehammer, and a bell. Several troubled adults couldn't help but feel like it was some sort of memorial. They left it alone.

Tha-bonk.

Tha-bonk.

Tha-bonk.

After the two-hundred and seventh throw Lucien heard motion outside his cell. The tennis ball dissolved in a flash of dull green and put his hands on his knees, closing his eyes. Appearing to meditate sometimes works just as well as actually meditating.

He heard a rapping on his cell's bars. He paid it no mind and kept his breath even. "Hey, you. Dude. You got a visitor," he heard a gruff voice say.

He heard someone fumble with some keys, followed by the sound of tumblers turning. The door to his cell clanked open, then shut a moment after. Padded steps made their way towards his sitting position near the back of his somewhat-spacious cell.

That last sound made him curious. He didn't know of any ponies that wore some form of horseshoes, much less padded ones. Taking a chance, he opened up his mind to sense the presence that had stopped in front of him.

His eyes opened to the murky sea of magic that swirled around him, then nearly shut them again. Sitting before him was a gargantuan presence, burning bright orange with intensity. It was akin to sitting next to a miniature sun, he couldn't keep looking at it directly for too long. His small, densely compacted green aura was dwarfed by whatever was currently across from him.

Shutting off his senses, he drew up conclusions rapidly. The foremost one being that whomever sat across from him wasn't accustomed to using magic, otherwise they would have taken greater precautions in concealing their aura. The second being that whomever it was, they knew what they wanted. That intensity could only belong to someone that was passionate enough about what they did that they would not let anything get in their way.

He got the peculiar feeling that he was it their way.

He opened his eyes, ready to face whatever sat before him. What he saw confused him.

It was a griffon. A somewhat graying griffin. Lucien took note of the bronze goggles on his head and the tan flying jacket. His face was severe, his eyebrows gouging into his forehead and hanging low over his eyes. If he had to guess, he would say there were permanently narrowed. His beak gave no sign of a smile or a frown, a fine poker face. He was sitting down, his claws folded and tapping impatiently.

"Ooooooh shit."

Lucien recognized him as none other than Ironwing, CEO of Skyline Incorporated.

Author's Notes:

Since it's been a while, I'll give an update on what's happened in the previous chapters to lead up to this point.

In Chapter 20, we first heard of Ironwing from Bronze Gear, who was then researched by Lucien and the Princesses. Luna compared him to a pony by the name of Fine Finance, who used bully techniques to buy out smaller businesses.

In Chapter 21, we learned more about Ironwing, what he's building, and his relationship to Sandcroft and Bronze Gear.

In Chapter 22, Lucien works to obtain a vision of the future. He was hinted of Ironwing's business, Skyline Inc. and Cloudsdale burning.

There was an interlude between Chapter 23 and Chapter 25 where the character Aiden was introduced, who is hanging out in Ponyville in his story, Wandering Prey. (Go read it, it's good.) Lucien and Twilight traveled to Cloudsdale to keep a close eye on Ironwing, and eventually confront him.

In the previous chapter, Chapter 26, we learned of Lucien's past concerning a partner of his who founded a faction. Angered by her apathy to the members of her faction, he stormed out, but not before making plans with a young mage named Eric and his team of four friends. Lucien, still in Cloudsdale, is quickly angered by Ironwing, whom he believes is toying with him. Lucien storms the Skyline building, vowing not to "play games," where he is quickly apprehended and thrown in a cell.

And now you're caught up with Arc II! Thanks for reading!

Short: The Skeleton War

Fair warning, little more language than normal this time, guys. Though, that should be fairly obvious, given the title.

Lucien awoke slowly. He blink his eyes, his sight bleary. Something had woken him up, and he didn't know what it was. He looked around his room, trying to clear his mind of the thoughts swirling around in its murky depths.

"Mornin' fuckboy," whispered a voice directly into his ear.

"AHHHHH!" Lucien screamed and flew out of his bed. His head hit the ceiling and he dropped down onto the floor, clutching it in agony.

"EGEGEGEGEG!!" laughed the skeleton sitting in Lucien's bed, his lower half covered by his blankets.

"Nope!" Lucien yelled as he grabbed his bag and ran out of his room in a panic.

He jumped down the stairs, and rounded the corner into his little kitchen. He thought he had gotten away, but there was another skeleton waiting for him outside his fridge.

"Gotta get that calcium, fuckboy!" the skeleton screamed as he downed a jug of milk that Lucien definitely did not have in his fridge.

"Screw that!" Lucien withdrew his sword and hurled it at the skeleton, causing it to stick in the outside of the fridge and causing the skeleton to explode in a shower of bones and dust. He wrenched it free of the fridge and sheathed it again, this time running out his front door.

Soon enough, he made it to Ponyville proper. As he ran in, he noticed the town was populated by the skeletons of both humans and ponies.

"Where's the fire, fuckboy!"

"Can't escape the skellies, fuckboy!"

"Enlist now, fuckboy! You're already halfway there!"

At that last one, he looked down at his legs to see that his bones were showing, not a lick of skin or muscle on them! His fear renewed, he doubled his speed to get to the library.

He used his bony leg to kick open the door, then he ran in, screaming for Twilight. "You gotta help me, Twi! They're everywhere! I don't know what to do!"

He run up into her bedroom and was relieved when he saw the backside of her purple body. She was facing the window, unmoving. "Lucien..." she began.

"Twilight?" Lucien took a step towards her.

She slowly began turning around. "Ready... for... the," she turned all the way around to reveal that her face was just a blank skull, "SKELETON WAR, FUCKBOY!"

Twilight turned into a full skeleton and began laughing maniacally as Lucien screamed. His clothes and skin quickly withered away until nothing was left but his bones.

"HAPPY NIGHTMARE NIGHT, FUCKBOYS!" he cackl—

"FUUUUUUUUck!" Lucien sat up ramrod straight in his bed, breathing hard.

"That.. was horrible," he thought with finality, already resolving to forget that nightmare ever happened. He slipped out of his bed, it still being dark outside.

He fumbled across his room and into the bathroom. His hand searched the wall until it found the light switch.

Click.

His gaze was met in the mirror by empty eye sockets set into a bleached white skull.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Author's Notes:

Tumblr made me do it.

(I made me do it.)

Do your best, don't rattle like the rest.

>insert self-promotion

Chapter 28: Business and Management

What surprised Lucien the most wasn't the griffin's aura, or his demeanor, or the fact that he was there at all. What really surprised him was how tired he looked. Sure, the old bird had a good poker face, but Lucien could make out the bags underneath his eyes, the unkempt wings neatly folded to his sides, and the messy jacket he wore. Something was keeping him up at night, but Lucien could only guess what.

They sat there in silence, sizing each other up without words. Ironwing's eyes darted around in their sockets, taking in each aspect of Lucien's appearance, surely taking note of the scars on his forearms, his bright green eyes, and his beat-up shirt and jeans. Conclusions were drawn and deductions were made, but they were known only to Ironwing.

"I..." he began slowly, in a gravelly voice tinged with some sort of accent, possibly Russian, "shall get straight to the point." He lifted a claw and pointed a very sharp talon directly at Lucien's chest. "I could kill you now and be rid of you, but that would cause bad publicity." He jabbed his talon into Lucien slightly, enough to make him wince. "But I would ask of you to keep in mind that you are no longer in Ponyville, or Canterlot. You are in Cloudsdale, where I am revered and you, who walks only on the ground, are shunned." Lucien's eyes narrowed.

"I have heard of your... exploits in the grounded cities. Strange creatures attacking Ponyville, destroying a behemoth of a monster in the Everfree, triumphing over my old colleague, Bronze Gear." He lowered his claw and frowned. "Such stories have no effect on me. And while I do care dearly for Bronze, and I am troubled by her irrationality, she was a fool for thinking she could challenge Twilight Sparkle with you there. I am convinced you are a formidable adversary, and I will not underestimate you, but we play a different game here."

Ironwing laced his claws together. "In this city, you cannot draw your sword in the middle of a marketplace and challenge me to a duel. You cannot barge into my offices, destroy my property, and think that you will not face punishment for it. This isn't Ponyville."

He stood up. "When you leave this place, you will find that the general populace will not be as neutral to you as they were when you arrived. You have made an enemy out of me, so you have made an enemy out of Cloudsdale. Because you will find quickly that I am the face of this city, it's true ruler, despite what the governor may say. Skyline provides everything for the citizens here, and in return, the citizens provide everything for Skyline to survive. You will find that the public won't let what you did go so easily."

He took a few steps towards the exit to Lucien's cell. "I am glad you didn't try and interrupt me. I told you what you need to hear, and I hope you will have the good sense to let this all drop, and allow me to go on and run my company, but I can tell that you aren't the type to let these things to so easily, hmm?" Ironwing chuckled, a rumbling sound, resonating from deep within his chest.

Lucien kept silent and kept his eyes on Ironwing as he slid open the cell bars and exited. Lucien closed his eyes again, and considered his options.

"He had a point in what he said, somewhere in all that. This isn't like Ponyville and Canterlot, where I'm respected, at the least. The ponies and griffins going around Cloudsdale don't care at all about what I've done elsewhere. I've made an enemy out of someone the public trusts, and that makes me a public enemy. Traveling around the city probably won't be as easy now."

"I still can't just stop and go back home now though. It's glaringly obvious that he's up to something, and I don't know what. But I can't just walk into Skyline and demand to see what's going on. Maybe I will have to play his 'game.'"

"Alright, you're out. Get up and follow me," a dark blue pony said as he unlocked Lucien's cell.

Lucien stood wordlessly and followed the pony out. They walked down several hallways and eventually made it to a front atrium. He was led to a station where he collected his 'items.'

"Where's my sword?" Lucien asked the pony behind the glass as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

"It's been confiscated," replied the pony, a frown etched in his features.

"Can I have it back now?" he asked.

"No," the pony said flatly.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"NO. Now get out. Before I call somepony and have them throw you back in your cell."

"Fine, fine. Jeez," Lucien said as he walked away, concealing a small smile.

He walked out the front doors, escorted by an officer. "You're lucky Skyline isn't pressing charges for breaking and entering. You could've been in there a lot longer that you were. Make sure you appreciate Ironwing's generosity." The door closed behind Lucien.

He turned his head around and watched through the glass to see the officer walk away. Once he turned a corner inside, Lucien smirked. "'Confiscated.' Yeah, right." He held out his hand and his sword appeared in a bloom of light. He spun it in his hand once, then sheathed it on his back, where his invisibility enchantment made sure it wouldn't be seen.

He rubbed his hands together and clapped them once, warming himself up. Going for a day or two without casting a substantial spell left him feeling a little stiff. He stretched his legs out a bit, then took a large step forward. Then he took another one and flash teleported a few feet. Then he took another step, and teleported again, this time going further.

He went like that out of the police station, then onto the street, where he was greeted by a few unfriendly faces. He halted in his tracks and took a look around the cloud street to find it semi-populated. Not quite New York, but a little more than Los Angeles. None of the ponies did anything to harm him or anger him, but they definitely didn't seem as neutral as they did when he first arrived.

"Well, my first step should be to find Twilight and get back to the hotel. I'm gonna need a better gameplan now that I know what I'm dealing with."

With that thought in mind, he charged up some mana and teleported.

Knock, knock.

"Who's there?"

"Housekeeping. Who do you think?"

The other side of the door was silent.

"I'm respecting your privacy by knocking but asserting my authority as your friend by coming in anyway! Besides, I already broke the lock."

Twilight was curled up in a chair in the corner, illuminated by a single light. A book was open in front of her face, held up by her telekinetic grip. A bookmark was place in it delicately, and then it shut with a snap.

"Now, we have a lot to get done." Lucien took another few steps into the room. "There's planning, and researching, and all sorts of fun little activities that we need to do before we pinpoint him and set up a—"

"Lucien," Twilight interrupted, stopping him as he was removing markers from his backpack and setting them on a drawing board he had just conjured.

"I, uh, yes?"

"You... can't just come back in here and act like all that didn't just happen. You got arrested. And what you said inside the cell... It's like you became someone else back in there." Twilight set her book down on a table next to the room's single window. She stood up and walked to the man.

"All that stuff you said about Ironwing, and how angry you looked, and the way it all sounded... I need to know if you're doing this for the right reasons. I can tell, this isn't the first time that something like this has happened. You seemed too angry at something that doesn't even seem to deserve your anger. So I want you to tell me what happened."

"Twilight, you don't want to hear about all that, trust me. It's boring anyway."

She stared at him, choosing not to reply.

"I... alright. I'll tell you about it." He zipped up his backpack and sat down on his bed.

"The story begins... and I guess ends with one person. Charlotte White. One of my closest friends. She was a dedicated magician. Someone with a lot of potential, I could tell. We met when I was in my mid-forties, and she was somewhere between twenty-five and thirty-five. We paired up for a while after meeting in a flooded town that was having a major Wendigo problem.

Now, before I get into specifics of what happened, you need to know that I always trusted Charlotte and what she did. The how's and why's are where things go from black-and-white to a nice even gray.

She was on assignment from the Tribune of Magic, at the time the only influential faction of magicians. Stuffy old bunch, never could stand them, and neither could she, but that comes later. Anyway, I was there just researching Wendigo's and I was looking to help out with some of the "pest extermination."

The first time I saw her was actually out in the field. She was in the middle of a fight, and I had just arrived. And, I don't know, something about the way she fought made me stop.

See, there's this sort of unspoken rule that we all have, call it honor, or bushido, or whatever, but magicians help each other out whenever we can. And it goes beyond common courtesy, to the point where we'll take serious risks and go into serious danger in order to prevent a death. Saying it out loud, it sounds like common sense, to not let somebody die in a fight, but people on my world aren't so compassionate.

Something about watching her fight made me completely forget about that rule, that instinct to help. I stood on the sidelines and watched her in combat until she had polished off all the monsters, without a scratch on her. That could've been because of the puppets, but maybe something else-

"Hold on," Twilight held up a hoof. "Puppets?"

"Oh right, didn't explain that." Lucien unzipped his backpack and rummaged around in it. "See, Charlotte had a unique-ish ability. Meaning, she's not the only one able to do it, but very, very few people can." His hands eventually found what they were looking for, and he pulled them out of the backpack.

He held a simple little wooden construct.

"Is that a puppet?" Twilight asked, curious.

"Marionette Magic," Lucien replied before dropping the puppet unceremoniously onto the floor. With a flourish and a dim green glow, he positioned his hand over the prone wooden construct. Then, impossibly small strands of magic came out of his fingertips and latched onto the puppet. It rose up off the ground and positioned itself in the air next to Lucien.

He wiggled a finger and it waved at Twilight cheerfully.

"That's... a little creepy," Twilight said, put off.

"Yeah, and this one doesn't even have any features. Trust me, it gets worse. Anyways," he closed his hand and the puppet went on a sort of auto-pilot around him and around the room, curiously poking at things. "Marionette Magic is remarkably difficult, because you have to divert your attention to a secondary being while still paying attention to your own body. See, Charlotte was a prodigy. When I saw her that day, she was managing four different marionettes at the same time, while still dodging attacks as they came from the Wendigo's. I didn't think it was possible to have that much focus in battle."

Even thinking about it now, about fifteen years later, it still amazes me. She still had some measure of grace, even with her attention being distributed so many ways. I could tell there that she would become somebody powerful, a force to be reckoned with. Eventually, I got over my stupor and I made sure we met up afterward to talk.

She told me about her job in the Tribune, how much she hated it, and how much she wanted out. So we chatted over it for some time, I told her about the wonders of being solo, and she expressed how much she didn't want to do that either. Eventually, we had to move on and complete our various objectives, but we kept in touch.

She went on doing jobs, and I tagged along for some. Eventually got to meet some of the higher-ups in the Tribune, and then subsequently grew to dislike them, but that's a story for another time. Anyway, once we really got into it over being in a faction, and one of us yelled something about starting a faction of our own.

And that idea took root in her mind. And it did in mine too, I guess, but not as much as Charlotte. Looking back now, I can see how badly she wanted it. To be the head of her own faction, to lead others in our battle, and to have power over others, just like her marionettes.

A day or two later she actually came to me with the idea and pitched it, and I went along. We began the Company of Magicians in New York, a large business city that was known as being specially flexible when it came to acting accordingly to the law. We got some funding, a lot of it out of our own pockets, and we started recruiting.

It took a year or two, but we eventually got the Company to a respectable place among the magic society. The Tribune was pissed at us, tried to have us shut down a few times, but never really managed much due to their own incompetence. Besides, we were watertight anyway. Charlotte was really into the whole business side of it, making sure we were financially and legally secure.

And I just kept on working through it. Doing jobs that she recommended that would earn the Company publicity, wearing the faction colors, blue and black, and just basically touting how great it was.

But as the time went on, assignments she gave me became less about providing legitimate help and more about getting publicity. I started disagreeing more with her on how she managed our recruits. Our relationship got more and more fragile, and I wasn't even meeting with her face to face anymore.

See, what I didn't know was what she was doing in New York, while I wasn't there. It was horrible. Blackmail, smuggling contraband spells, manipulating the CEO's of other companies, using her own magic to control others. That was the worst offense of all. Another one of our "rules" is that we don't use magic like that on the normal humans, that don't know what we are or what's going on.

It took some time, but I eventually grew suspicious of it all. Where she was getting the currency, where she was getting the supplies, where she was getting the real estate in the city. I heard from some of the people she had put down, and even some people that worked under her, that she wasn't being "straight in her affairs."

And... I don't know. I just didn't want to believe it. This was Charlotte White. I've always known her for how badly she wanted to make something of her own, and do it the "right way." And so I investigated it more, and found more and more evidence of it... It all just piled up and I couldn't look away anymore.

So I confronted her.

"Charlotte."

A door closes.

"Oh, hey Lucien. How did things go in Saint Louis? You did what I told you with the Arch, right?"

A chair rolls over the clean floors and comes to a stop.

"Actually, I wanted to talk about that. And other things."

Hands clasp tightly.

"What kind of things? Is something wrong?"

Weight is pressed into the chair.

"...Yeah, Charlotte, something is wrong. I've been hearing... weird things lately."

"About what?"

"About the Company, and about you."

A tight frown is donned.

"Are we going to have to start another propaganda war against the Tribune again? I didn't think that you would fall-"

"No, it's not from the Tribune. It's from bankers, and donors, and other contributors to the Company."

"...I assure that whatever you're hearing-"

"No. Just... no. Don't start. I know about what you've been doing to people. Manipulation. Blackmail. Smuggling. Charlotte, why?"

Silence pervades the room.

"Things are different here. There's only so much I was able to do, while everybody was locking me out of this entire world. You don't know the kinds of animals live in those skyscrapers, how depraved, and dirty, and disgusting they all are. I had to do what I did, because there was no way we could get all of this otherwise."

Another silence. A hand meets a face and covers its eyes.

"You can't. Not anymore. I can't believe you did it in the first place."

"There was no other way!"

"There's always another way! Instead of sending me on those stupid, useless assignments, you could have had me help deal with those 'depraved, dirty, disgusting' people. I've made some friends here, Charlotte, why didn't you just look around for help?"

"Because this is the only real way to gain power in this godforsaken city! All that stuff you heard about me was true! I did all that for the Company! It's because of the Company that I stooped to that! You and I both know we're better than those people out there, and this was how to make them know that!"

"What you did was wrong! What you want for the Company is wrong! Back when we started this you said you wanted respect, and a faction that is efficient, that respects its recruits! Now look at what you have, a Company of recruits that don't know the morals of the world we grew up in! This Company isn't respected, it's feared!"

"No... no it isn't! And don't attack our recruits, you know how well they're taught!"

The silence reenters.

"Denver. Two months ago."

A face pales.

"That... that's not fair..."

"Stone Titan. Combat party of six."

"You can't blame me for..."

"One survivor. Five casualties. The only recorded deaths of Company members since its founding."

A tear strikes the ground.

"It's not..."

"If you had just trusted me..."

A choked sob.

"I couldn't have done it... It was impossible for me to..."

"No. It was. But you were too far gone in this world to even try. You've given up on magic, Charlotte. And I can't stand to watch it anymore. I'm leaving."

"Please... the Company... we need you."

A door shuts.

Twilight's hoof covered her mouth, as it had for most of the time. Lucien was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the ground, downcast. "It was the last time I saw her. I swore off dealing with the Company, besides allying myself with a few recruits in combat. I heard eventually that she started taking more and more time out of the office. Six months later, she disappeared. No evidence found, no substantial investigation made. All they found of her were two of her marionettes. One looking like me, one looking like her."

Lucien lamely lifted his hand towards the puppet that was in the room with them. It was sitting on the edge of their nightstand, its legs dangling. The air around it shimmered and flashed to reveal that it was no longer featureless. It was a puppet of a woman, wearing a white peacoat and black leggings. Her hair covered half of her face and it was cut close down her neck. Its features were amazingly detailed, a prominent nose, soft brown eyes, and immaculate red lipstick with well-lined eyebrows.

"Is that...?" Twilight asked softly.

"Yes," answered Lucien. "That's her. It was in her house. I felt like I needed it, to have some real way to remember her. Remarkable, in every way, even until she disappeared."

He jerked in surprise as he felt something soft plow into his side. "I'm so sorry," Twilight said, hugging him. "I had no idea that something so terrible happened to you and your friend..."

"It's alright. It was a long time ago now." He put a hand on her, gently rubbing her fur. "Besides, you totally called it when you said that something happened in the past to make me like this."

"Yeah," she laughed quietly. She pulled back and sat up straight. "I keep asking you these things about you and your past... and just when I think I've known everything about where you came from, you tell me something like this. Something I couldn't imagine. Either wonderful, or horrible, the things you experienced..."

"Yeah, I've been around on Earth," Lucien smiled.

"...I'm going to see it, someday." Twilight said forcefully. "I have to."

"I-"

"Don't say no, because you know that won't stop me from finding a way," Twilight interrupted.

Lucien laughed. "Yeah, I know." He grew quiet. "Twilight?"

"Hmm?" she asked, meeting his eyes.

"Thanks for listening."

"It's what friends do, right?"

"Right..." Their eyes remained locked.

"Well," Lucien cleared his throat and stood up, suddenly becoming aware of how close he and Twilight just were. "We should probably get planning, anyway. You know, since we have some investigating to do. Not 'taking him out' or anything, just a good, clean investigation."

"Right! Right, right, right, right, right. We should definitely do that! Investigating, yes." Twilight stood up and walked to where she had some parchment and a quill. "I should get to work contacting the Princesses and finding contacts to see who Ironwing's been talking to. Let's do that investigation!"

Neither noticed how brightly the other was blushing from their close encounter.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading.

Chapter 29: A Sudden, Sharp Turn

"Alright." Lucien snapped a pointing stick to the whiteboard he had conjured up. In front of him sat his loyal friend Twilight, who was ready to listen with rapt attention. Floating around her were numerous letters from the princesses, each containing valuable information on the target of their investigation, Ironwing, CEO of Skyline Incorporated.

"So what we know about this griffon," he began, moving his pointer to a sketch of Ironwing that had numerous lines drawn towards his various anatomical parts. "We know that he is proficient in many fighting styles, each linked to the creative and lethal use of his wings." He pointed to the drawing's wings. "But we don't really care about what he can do in a fight. What we really care about it what's going on up here," he said, circling the drawing's head.

"Ironwing has a mind like a steel trap. According to reports sent from the princesses, and accounts given so us so graciously by Bronze Gear herself, we know that he is a ruthless tactician, with skills of business and manipulation that far outclass any political or economic competitors in Cloudsdale." The pointer moved to a picture of Skyline's tower. "He's used this skill to take over most of the business of Cloudsdale, and go so far as to gain the alliance of the local government. In addition that that frightening fact, we also know that he controls most of the police regiments, and the hearts and minds of the citizens of Cloudsdale."

Lucien made a disgusted sound. "It's this kind of thing that I really hate. It's like a twisted form of Stockholm Syndrome. All the citizens of Cloudsdale are being manipulated by this guy, just so he can have control here. And they don't even realize why."

He snapped his pointer to a sketch of a gear. "And that why is precisely why we're here. We know for a fact that Ironwing is connected to the terrorist group known as the Engineers. It's ranks contain Bronze Gear," he pointed to a picture of the pony, "Ironwing," he returned to the drawing of the griffon, "and a third member that we still don't know the identity of." His pointer came to rest on the silhouette of a pony with a question mark on its flank.

"According to Bronze Gear, the Engineers have some connection to the pony known as 'Sandcroft,' whom I've met personally. It's still unknown as to what his relation to the Engineers is, or if he's had any contact with the other two members, but we do know that he factors in somewhere. Hell, he might even be the third member. Point is, we don't know yet. Moving on!"

His pointer snapped to some documents clipped onto the board. "We have some evidence here that brings into question the legality of Ironwing's methods of interacting with the various businesses that used to be in Cloudsdale. We have enough here to bring Ironwing into court, but not enough to convict him, especially not with the alliances he's built within the population. It would be impossible to get an unbiased jury in Cloudsdale, and he would delay the trial anyway, at least until whatever he's planning is ready."

His pointer moved to a copy of some schematics. "Now, right here I have the blueprints for Bronze Gear's magic-neutralizing bomb, something I'm sure you remember very fondly. Anyway, due to the letter left by Sandcroft at Bronze Gear's home, we have to expect that Ironwing has a copy of these same blueprints, and we need to anticipate that he has constructed one of these bombs himself."

He flipped the board over to reveal a large illustration of the bomb's anatomy. "Thanks to the unicorns in Canterlot that reverse-engineered the device, we know much more about it now, including," his pointer snapped to a small point at the base of the tesla coil inside the main compartment of the bomb, "it's weakness. There is one wire underneath a small plate at the base of the coil that, when severed, cuts the power to the bomb. Should we face this weapon, it would need to be our primary objective to keep it from going off. No magic: no cloudwalking, and that would be very messy."

He flipped the board back over. "Getting back on point, we don't know what technology Ironwing's come up with, but we do have some reports from the pegasi that work in the city's construction that there may be some hollow space in the clouds underneath Skyline's tower." He pointed to a copy of Skyline's blueprints. "It's my suspicion that whatever Ironwing is building, it's hidden down there."

"So." He snapped his pointer shut and tossed it in his backpack. "Since we can't nail him politically, we have to figure out what he's got hidden, and make sure it doesn't ever become operational. Any questions?"

Twilight clopped her hooves together enthusiastically. "Great lecture Lucien! You would make a really nice teacher!"

"Tried it once. Colleges on my planet didn't really appreciate me teaching Magic 101, especially since my style is more hands on than anything. Anyway, are we in agreement for what needs to be done next?" he asked.

"Nope! I think you explained everything perfectly, aside from how we're getting under Skyline," Twilight replied.

"Tunneling!" Lucien responded enthusiastically.

"What?"

"We go up from underneath Cloudsdale!" Lucien conjured a little cloud in the air between them and pointed to the bottom of it. "It's simple, we go underneath using modified gravity spells and dig towards the surface. If we start in the right place, we'll hit the cavern in no time!"

Twilight blinked. "That's... not a bad plan. Getting the gravity spell to work with the cloudwalking spell won't be too easy though..." Twilight trailed off in thought.

"I'll leave you to it, then. There's something in the city that I need to do," Lucien grabbed his backpack, then kicked the whiteboard, causing it to disappear into the mana that he conjured it from. The now-ethereal substance flooded back into him, his body lighting up slightly green. He exited through the door, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts and the little cloud he had conjured up.

He exited out to a main street. It was approaching late afternoon, and the sun was beginning turn the land orange. He felt like he needed to get outside. Since he got to Cloudsdale he'd felt somewhat on-edge, and the incident in Skyline's tower and talking with Twilight made him feel changed, somehow. He felt more powerful, in a way. More in control of himself, if that makes any sense.

He looked around at the strange architecture of the buildings in his area. Each towered into the sky at a different height, none shared any outstanding features, but they all had some sort of flat roof or balcony. Probably because they made good landing places for the flying populace in Cloudsdale.

Looking up at one in particular, he focused, then flashed to it mid-stride. He stopped moving, just looking around at the other buildings. With another thought, he flashed to another one, this time on a roof. Then he moved again, and again, and again. He went through the entire city like that, flashing from building to building without moving his legs.

A few minutes later he hit the edge of the flying city. Off in the distance he could see Canterlot, sitting proudly on its mountain. Down below it was Ponyville, already thrown into shade from the setting sun. He turned around and looked up to see the Skyline tower, casting a deep shadow across the city. He took a deep breath, inhaling the clean air and taking in the silence. There was hardly a breeze even, the air keeping still and lending to the serenity of the scene.

He twitched. Something was off in the peace. There was a disturbance of some sort. He focused his hearing and was able to pick up a slight whistling sound from far off. He looked down from the roof he was standing on and tried to see into the shade below Cloudsdale.

Just then something flew by him from below. Almost too fast for him to catch. He stumbled backward in surprise, wondering what it was that could move that fast. He crouched down slightly, not wanted to get knocked off balance again, and he peered over the ledge again.

Another thing flew by him. Then another. And another. They weren't small either, and there was a lot of them. Too many. He turned and ran a few steps back, to the center of the roof, then looked back.

A veritable tidal wave of creatures suddenly erupted into the air. The scene that was so peaceful one moment ago was now shattered by the screams and cries of whatever it was that just came up. More and more came, enough so that it completely covered up the sun's dying lights.

He leveled out his gaze and noticed one flying right for him. Reacting quickly, he held out his hands and caught it in a stasis bubble in front of him. His eyes narrowed as soon as he realized what it was that was swarming.

Wyverns. Bright blue in color, armless, but rather armed with a row of sharp teeth. The one he captured was about as long as he was, head to tail, but they could be bigger. He would need to be swift and brutal dealing with these. There was no easy way to get rid of a swarm of Wyverns, but there was a method.

Manipulating the magic of his stasis bubble, he grasped the wings of the Wyvern he had captured, then violently ripped them from its body. It let out a high-pitched screech, then Lucien unceremoniously dropped it onto the roof. He took a few steps forward and brutally crushed its throat with his heel. He tried but failed to suppress the shiver of satisfaction he got from snuffing the monstrosity's life.

Before him was the city of Cloudsdale. He could already hear the screams of pegasi as they flitted around, under attack from the equally mobile aerial threat. He didn't know how he would defend the city, or how it happened that Wyverns were in Equestria and attacking Cloudsdale, but he knew that he needed to stop it. Just like the incident with the Filth months ago, his world's creatures were his responsibility, and he wasn't going to let them destroy his second home.

He visualized his and Twilight's apartment and teleported directly to the front door. Not wasting any time, he threw the door open and immediately spotted who he was looking for.

"Twilight. There's trouble," he said flatly.

She looked up from her spot on the bed, her eyes breaking view with the miniature cloud Lucien had left behind. "What's wrong?" she asked, confused. Just then, as if in response to her question, the sounds of the Wyverns filled the air around them. They were advancing across the city quickly.

Twilight removed her hooves from her ears cautiously. "What is that?!" she shouted over the cries and shrieks filling the air.

"Wyverns!" Lucien shouted back. "From my world!" he dashed inside and grabbed his sword from his bed. He slid it firmly into its position on his back and looked at Twilight.

She was standing up, her jaw firmly set, a fire in her eyes. A far cry from what she was like when Lucien first arrived. "When I first came around..." The thought stopped him cold. He looked over her stance, her steely face. It didn't seem like an expression something so gentle should ever have. "I brought this here... She's like this because of me." The thought stung, almost.

But he was shaken from his thoughts by something unexpected. The ground started to rumble, the floor shook beneath his feet. Something was wrong with the floating city.

"Lucien, do you feel that?" Twilight asked, a look of concentration on her face.

He didn't need to extend his senses to feel that something other than the ground was rumbling. There was a magical force in the air, vibrating throughout the city like a colossal foghorn. It was coming from the center of the city, and Lucien had a feeling he knew exactly where.

"Let's get outside!" he shouted to her before running out and jumping up to the roof. He extended a spherical shield to protect them from any attacks from above.

He turned his gaze directly to Skyline's tower, knowing full well that was the source of the anomaly. But what he saw wasn't something that he had ever anticipated.

Buildings around Skyline's plaza were collapsing from the sheer force of what was emerging from beneath the clouds. The bow of a ship, completely vertical, was steadily climbing into the sky. It was golden-bronze in color, and absolutely massive. It was still rising up from below, though now it had begun to level out. Wyverns were swarming all around it, and, even from where he was, he could see the flashes of light coming from cannon-fire and spells being cast from the surface of the ship.

"What is that?!" Twilight yelled from beside Lucien.

"Right now, it's our best hope to keep the Wyverns off of Cloudsdale." Lucien said, his mind thinking fast. He slung around his backpack and pulled out his journal. He flipped it open and thumbed over pages until he found the one he was looking for: the page on Wyverns. "They attack in swarms! Their arms are part of their wings, barbed tail, sharp teeth! Keep your distance and use area-of-effect attack spells!" he shouted to Twilight. As he closed the journal, he noticed his sticky note at the top with his kill-count. The note was filled up with crossed out numbers, some with as many as six digits. The entire bottom half just had three bolded question marks.

He turned around to look at Twilight again. Her eyes were fixed on the ship in the distance, flicking around constantly to track the flashes of magic as they struck at the Wyverns. His heart was struck with pain again as he saw nothing but himself in her. Guilt clouded his mind as he made the connection again that her state was his fault. He shook it off, there were more important things to do. "You can take care of yourself, right?" he asked, now kneeling by her side.

"I'm confident," was her simple reply, her eyes hard.

Lucien nodded and stood up. "Then let's get to the ship. I'll explain on the way."

He looked around outside their bubble. Wyverns were crawling all over the translucent surface at this point, blocking out any view they could have of their target. That wouldn't do. With a simple thought and a narrowing of his eyebrows, the surface of the shield suddenly became electrified. The Wyverns screamed in pain, then all collapsed from their perches, falling to the roof, dead.

He turned his head to see Twilight's re—

"No. She can take care of herself. You need to stop worrying."

"Come on!" he shouted to her over the other cries in the air. He ran forward and leapt off the edge of the building. He let himself fall for a moment, then charged up and released a spell. He rotated his head to see a mana construct form over his back: a translucent pair of wings. They quickly caught the wind and he was no longer falling, but gliding across the chaotic city.

Pegasi were flitting back and forth around him, most being pursued by Wyverns. Some of them were putting up excellent fights, using weapons such as bats and iron clubs. Royal guards were arranged in phalanxes in the sky, shields raised and spears poking out from gaps in the protective barrier.

He helped out with whatever he could, firing bursts of mana out occasionally to knock pursuing Wyverns out of the sky, but there were so many he couldn't do anything substantial.

He felt a fluttering of wings by his side and he looked over to see Twilight wobbly gliding alongside him, similarly diverting some of her attention to shooting shots of mana as attacks.

"So, the plan!" Lucien shouted to her.

She looked at him for a split second and nodded, firing off another shot in the process.

"We board the ship, ignore anything attacking us on board, if they even notice us, then get to the control room!" He pointed to the ship. It had just finished cresting over the clouds, and it was steadily rising into the sky, thrusters in the back were putting out neon-blue magical energy as propulsion. The sheer size of it stunned him for a moment. It was easily as large as some aircraft carriers back on earth, only this thing was completely outfitted with weapons and spellcasters. Lights were flashing constantly from all across the ship's surface and from openings in the interior. "At the back end of it! Those towers!" There were several small towers extending from the ship's flat surface, clearly where the control room would be.

"We need to get control of it from Ironwing, then I can get down to the engine room and use the magical energy to get rid of all the Wyverns, just like Aiden and I did back in Ponyville!"

"Alright, let's do it!" Twilight yelled in response.

Lucien tucked his body into a tight roll as he came into contact with the bronze surface of the aircraft. His wings flashed out as he killed his momentum by rolling a few feet forward then standing back up and sliding on his feet. A pony nearby screamed in surprise and fear by his sudden landing, and tried to shoot at him with a bolt of magic. Lucien reacted quickly and raised a reflective shield that sent the bolt flying back into the unicorn, knocking him off the side of the ship.

He brushed himself off as Twilight landed next to him. She folded in her wings as Lucien removed his backpack.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she looked over at him.

"Getting a little more reassurance," Lucien replied. He found what he was looking for and grabbed it.

Lucien loaded a fresh magazine into the pistol and pulled the slide back, making sure a bullet was loaded. "We can't afford to be slowed down by a bunch of unicorns that don't know what the real enemy is. Bullets are enchanted. Shield-piercing. Lethal to mages." "Also very illegal, according to the Trireme Council back on Earth, but what they don't know won't hurt them."

"Let's get moving then," said Twilight.

Lucien slung his backpack back on and picked up his sword. He held it in front of him in a more defensive way, given that his off hand was now occupied.

They made their way across the deck of the ship with relative ease. Their opposition was extremely light, given that all hands on board were focused entirely on the skyborne enemies that were attacking their city. Any pony or griffin that attempted to challenge them were quickly incapacitated, either by Twilight's stunning bolts or by Lucien's swift shooting arm. He aimed to be non-lethal with his targeting, but he wasn't about to cry over the loss of an Equestrian life. There were going to be many deaths in this attack, and another one or two that tried to stop him weren't going to earn his sympathy. Or his pity.

Eventually they made it to the bottom of the tower, only to realize that it was much, much taller than they expected it to be when they first saw it. "Oh god not the stairs," Lucien said when he kicked open the door leading in.

Twilight backed up a few hoofsteps and looked up, silently gauging something as Lucien looked upward at all the flights of stairs they would have to run up.

"I've got a faster way, grab on!" Twilight shouted, fluttering above him. She held out her hoof.

"Great! No more stairs!" Lucien exclaimed excitedly, sheathing his sword and grabbing her outstretched hoof.

She grunted at the sudden increase of weight, but manged to haul him up into the air. He noticed the effort she was using to move him, so he magically manipulated the air to give them an updraft. Twilight looked down and mouthed thank you before stretching her wings out wide to ride the current upward.

It was a short trip. They reached the top of the tower, the wall facing them made out of floor-to-ceiling windows. They looked inside only to see the terrified and bewildered faces of several ponies sitting at various control stations around the room. "Move back from the window!" Lucien shouted up to Twilight. "When I shoot, ram the window!"

"Got it!" Twilight shouted back, her voice strained.

Lucien raised his pistol and fired two quick shots into the window pane directly in front of him. "Go go go!" he yelled.

"Rrgah!" Twilight steeply angled her wings and flew straight into the transparent solid. As Lucien planned, it shattered with the impact, causing shards to fly everywhere inside, and rain down upon them as they hid their faces against the ground. When the tinkling of glass stopped, Lucien lifted his head up to look around. All of the ponies manning the stations had fled, causing the ship to level out in its flight and the deck to suddenly become much more stable. He directed his attention to Twilight.

"Shit, you're hurt," he said, noticing a slight trickle of blood down her face.

"What?" she asked, looking at him. She followed his gaze up and put a hoof on her forehead, looking slightly surprised when it came back bloody. "Oh. I guess I am."

"I'll get it," Lucien said, scrambling over to her. He got down on his knees and held out his palm to the wound. A faint green light showed from his hands and a fine mist issued forth, closing the cut and evaporating all the blood that had accumulated.

"Thanks," Twilight said, running her hoof over the now-closed wound.

"Yeah, let's just not do that again," Lucien said, worry on his face. "I'd prefer to get out of this with you unscathed. Anyway," he stood up, "I guess this is phase one of my plan complete. Now all I have to do is get down to the engine—"

The door to the control room slammed open suddenly, cutting Lucien off. "HE'S BIGGER!"

A violent gust of wind swept in from the door, almost sending Lucien and Twilight back off the edge of the room. They took cover behind one of the consoles and watched as the other windows shattered from pieces of equipment getting hurtled through them. "HE'S BETTER!"

The wind picked up even more speed, whipping Lucien and Twilight's hair around in violent gusts. They tucked into each other and held on for life as the gales threatened to pick them up and out. "HE'S BADDER!"

Lucien slipped and felt himself flying out. Thinking quickly, he threw a dome shield around him that cut off the wind. He looked back up just in time to see Twilight achieving liftoff, phasing through his shield, and slamming into him. They both grunted with the impact and the shield broke. Lucien recovered quickly and made another one, then layered another over that one. "HE'S TOO MUCH FOR THEM TO HANDLE!"

A concussive force swept out suddenly, shattering Lucien's outer shield. He recoiled in pain, but tried to recover. Without warning, the inner shield broke as well, and he and Twilight were swept out into the sky by the force of the wind. They tumbled around in the air confused and dazed, but Twilight recovered before he did. She grabbed his body with all four legs and hugged him to her barrel. Her wings stretched out wide and fought the wind, but it suddenly slammed them both down to the deck.

Lucien tumbled onto the cold metal surface harshly. He rolled a few times on his side and then stopped, one hand dangling over the edge. The wind had forced them to the other side of the ship. He turned his head to see Twilight in a battle stance just in front of his prone body. Her horn was lit and she was scanning for aggressors, but the Wyverns weren't paying them attention and the crew members were nowhere to be seen.

Lucien blinked and suddenly a blue unicorn was in front of them. A very dapper blue unicorn. With a tacky top hat.

"Thank you, Gold Mist for that lovely introduction. It was very... fitting."

"The pleasure was all mine," a golden pegasus said, flying down to land next to the unicorn.

"It was quite a show," rumbled another voice. From the side of the ship came Ironwing, landing next on the other side of the unicorn.

"Sandcroft," Twilight growled.

"Ah, Miss Twilight, a pleasure to finally miss you face to face." He took off his hat and bowed low, revealing a slightly shaggy spiked head of hair. He bent his body back up and replaced his hat. "I wish the circumstances were better," he said, gesturing to the chaos around them, "but you just have to roll with the punches I suppose."

"Why are you here?" Twilight asked, taking a defensive step backward.

"I was just checking on my compatriot here, Ironwing." He put a hoof on the graying griffon's shoulder. "We do go very far back, I'm sure you know. That idiot Bronze told you all about my connection to him after all."

"She did," Twilight said, her voice cautious. "But why are you here now? Fighting us when there's all these Wyverns attacking Cloudsdale?"

"Oh that's simple," Sandcroft remarked, a hard glint in his eyes. "It's because I brought them here."

Lucien flinched, then finally sat up uneasily, his body protesting the movement. His mind went back to what happened during Winter. The Filth. The Polymorphus. The Revenant. Monsters from his world that were not supposed to exist in Equestria. But he thought it was him crossing the border between their worlds that started a leak, not some random pony. So then—

"How?" Twilight asked for him.

Sandcroft's eyes shifted to look directly into Lucien's. "'I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.' That's a phrase I'm sure you're familiar with, Magician."

Lucien's eyes snapped wide open and he forgot about the pain in his body. He stood up, his limbs now strong. "Why do you know that?" Lucien asked, but he already knew the answer.

"Earth is a very similar place to Equis. It's very easy to look on one from the other. Or borrow some ideas, or maybe even borrow some people," Sandcroft said, smiling maliciously.

Lucien's mind shot back into his past. What he was doing when he first came into Equestria. Does that mean—

As if reading his thoughts Sandcroft spoke again. "You were dumb enough to think your cat altered your summoning spell and it transported you here. Honestly, I expected more from a veteran magician like you. All that time spent training and you didn't even notice that your circle had been tampered with."

"So it was—"

"—I've been watching you a long time, Mage," Sandcroft spat out. His tone of voice changed to something much more venomous. "By the time you actually began catching on, it was far too late. You were already here, and you still couldn't make the full connection to me." There was a flash and Lucien's notebook appeared between the two groups. Its pages fluttered open to the sketches of the visions of the future he had. In each picture, a spade somewhere was highlighted by gold magic, and Lucien was reminded of the revelation he had months ago.

The notebook disappeared in another flash. But this time, Lucien was prepared. He used the brief moment to draw his sword and leap at the unicorn.

"DO NOT INTERRUPT ME!" he shouted, and another concussive wave of force rebuffed him back into Twilight. They tumbled backwards and almost fell off the edge. "Hmm." He straightened his clothes out and righted his top hat.

"Anyway, I'll follow along with the usual practice and give a little explanation. After all, I'm sure you're dying to know why I chose to focus on you instead of someone more powerful." He checked the cuffs of his sleeves as he began talking. "You see, I'm not your normal sort of pony. I'm not actually a pony at all, you see. But as this is the dominant lifeform on this planet, it's the form I take."

He took a few steps backward. "I suppose I'll give this explanation in the easiest way you can understand. I'm what the local mythology refers to as a Gatekeeper. Of course, I'm sure the name is all but forgotten about by this point, but that's what thousands of years of neglect does to you." He took a deep breath. "Anyway! Each world has a Gatekeeper, and they are the power that patrols the boundary between that world and any neighboring ones."

Lucien was beginning to see where he was going with this. He sat up again, and helped Twilight into a similar position, but both had their attention completely focused on Sandcroft.

"About three years ago, however, the Gatekeeper before me was slain by, coincidentally, me. I gained his powers and the ownership of this planet. But I wasn't going to guard it, no that wouldn't be fun at all. I looked over to the next world and saw only what could be. So I let in a few little things from Earth, here and there, and then, once the boundary had destabilized more, I brought you through. That opened up some more rifts between the worlds, and the rest I suppose is history."

"Why? You'll destroy both worlds if the boundary collapses," Lucien croaked. His body, damaged by the force wave, shuddered as he took a breath.

"Does there have to be a reason? Your Joker didn't have a reason. He wanted to watch the world burn, and that's exactly what he did," Sandcroft said with a sinister smile. "Only here there is no Batman to stop me."

"I'll stop you," Lucien said, raising his sword from his position on the ground. He looked at Twilight and saw she was in a similar state of damage, but still had fire in her eyes.

"Unfortunately, no. You won't. And neither will the Elements of Harmony," Sandcroft said, his horn glowing.

Lucien's arm lowered a bit. He thought rapidly of escape options, but they all would put Twilight in jeopardy, and he couldn't let that happen.

"I hoped you enjoyed your stay, because I'm kicking you out!" A beam of light shot up from his horn, then crashed down on Lucien and Twilight, engulfing them completely. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the devious looks of the three enemies as they watch his body fade away.

Chapter 30: Return

Lucien

The sound of the ocean reached his ears, the first sensation to return to him.

Next he felt sand between his fingers and pressed up against his face. Wet sand, sticking to him uncomfortably.

The air smelled of sea brine and rot, it was off-putting, but somehow familiar, perhaps not in a good way.

He tasted blood.

His eyes shot open with the sudden remembrance of what had just happen. His fingers clenched hard, pulling the wet sand into his forceful grip. He struggled to straighten his arms and bring his knees up to sit on them. He managed it, shakily, and lifted his head to get a bearing on where exactly he was.

There was sand. A lot of it. In a short distance stood the remains of a lone lifeguard tower, and he could see a few mostly-destroyed houses forming a line away from the crashing waves of the ocean at his back. He spun around to sit on his rear. In the foggy distance he could just make out the faint outline of an island. He knew where he was.

Newport Beach. California. Earth.

He collapsed back into the sand. It occurred to him suddenly just how tired he was, and how he seemed to be having a difficult time placing his concern for what had just happened. He felt lazy in that moment, locked in a daze, his purpose momentarily lost.

But that moment was shattered when he heard a groan from beside him.

"No..."

His head rotated slowly, but there was no doubt in his mind as to who might be there next to him. A purple unicorn lay splayed out on the sand, a position similar to his before he regained consciousness.

"Twilight..."

He sat up and dragged himself over to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and rolled her over onto her back as delicately as possible in his energy-drained state. He rubbed her barrel lightly, coaxing her into consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open quickly, her pupils dilating in the sudden exposure to light.

"Luc—" she was cut off as she went into a coughing fit. When she had recovered, she tried to speak again. "Lucien," she croaked, "what happened?"

Lucien licked his cracked lips, rolling the metallic taste of blood around in his mouth. "We're on Earth," he said simply. "I thought... he'd only send me..." he started to say before he cut himself off, suddenly more acutely aware of just where they were. "We need to go. Now," he said, shaking off his sluggish feelings.

Twilight wasn't so quick. "What?" she managed to get out before Lucien stood and scooped her up in his arms. "Lucien, what's happening?" she asked, confused and dazed.

"Newport Beach was abandoned 3 years ago after draug rose from the sea and attacked the city. There's more than a fair chance that they're still roaming around, and we're in no condition to fight." He ran them towards the dilapidated house that lined the beach, choosing one that seemed especially sturdy and unbroken to go into.

He edged in through the shattered sliding glass door and jogged past the ruined kitchen full of decomposed food items. He paid the dried-out bloodstains on the walls no mind as he ran Twilight up the stairs near the back of the house and got them safely into a relatively-untouched bedroom at the end of the upstairs hallway.

He closed the door behind them with his heel, despite the top half of the door being destroyed completely, and sat down heavily on the bed, Twilight still cradled in his arms. He heaved out a sign of relief and looked down to see that Twilight was nuzzling into his chest, her eyes closed again.

In that moment his heart seized with terrible guilt. He compared her innocent-looking face to the bleak and gray surroundings that they were in and his eyes filled with horror at exactly what he had done.

He had brought Twilight Sparkle to the monster-infested nightmare that is Earth.

Twilight

Her head pounded. She analyzed the pain and gave it her categorizing attention for a few brief moments. It wasn't acute, it was more of a widespread, dull throbbing that had a focus at her medulla oblongata. Going over her various remembered illnesses concerning headaches, she quickly dismissed her greatest fear of internal hemorrhaging and settled on mana depletion, a much less severe condition.

Her eyes opened as she regained awareness of her surroundings. But she was puzzled as her gaze was filled up by only the color green, a color green that was particularly close to her face. She pushed her nose into it slightly and found it delightfully warm and soft. She let out a soft sigh as she relaxed into the embrace of whatever it was that held her.

"Wait..."

There were hands holding her. Arms cradling her close. She just stuck her nose into the chest of Lucien LaChance.

Her cheeks grew a red tinge, but otherwise she didn't react. She didn't find her predicament to be all that bad, to say the very least. There were worse things to be pressed up against, anyway. So she tucked her nose back into him and got the best out of the nuzzle, thoughts about her headache or where she was were lost in the moment.

But sadly she knew she couldn't stay like that anymore, regardless of how nice it felt to be so close to him. She stirred and lifted her neck up, craning it to look at Lucien's face.

He was staring off at the wall, his eyes wide in some expression that Twilight couldn't quite place. His shirt was torn around the shoulders, she noticed, and his sword and backpack were askew. His face didn't hold the gentleness nor the edge that she had grown accustomed to it having. It just seemed blank now, and gray as her surroundings.

"Lucien..." she whispered.

After a moment's delay, he tilted his head and met her gaze, their faces only inches apart. They stayed like that for a few tense moments until she noticed pinpricks of water welling up in the man's eyes. He choked a sob back, then buried his face in her barrel softly. She didn't move, stunned by what he did. She felt her coat get wet from the tears that he shed, and the sensation brought her mind back from whatever processing had occupied. She shifted her weight and wrapped her arms around him awkwardly, but firmly, giving him whatever support she could at the moment.

Lucien was crying, and nothing else in the world mattered to her more at the moment than he did.

Lucien

He wept for his failures in the past. The past both far and near. For the mistakes and choices he made that led him to this moment. Going to Equestria was never his original intent that day, so long ago, when he had tried to summon a demon in his basement, but it was the result of the experiment nonetheless. He, at first, allowed himself to stay only for what he assumed would be a brief vacation. Earth needed him, and would always need him, fighting on the front lines on behalf of civilization as he and humanity knew it.

But that short vacation slowly became months, as he began to enjoy Equestria and notice eventually that it had problems of its own. The fiasco with Bronze Gear was what started it all. If she had never happened, then Lucien would've gone back to Earth and kept on fighting, doing his duty to keep the horrors and nightmares at bay.

But he just felt so tired.

Even though it was something he loved, fighting and surviving, and the adrenaline rush that accompanied just barely escaping the jaws of death, it took a toll on him. There were reasons for his actions years previous, back with Charlotte and the Company. After she disappeared, he managed it for a few months, watching over the recruits and keeping order in the system, but his relationship with the Trireme Council became strained.

He gave up control over the Company and moved on to do some mercenary work for The House of Life and the Tribune, but getting more and more risky with his actions with each passing assignment. After one too many brushes with death and one too many politician left pissed off, he retreated from the front lines to pursue singular study. He researched in his house for 2 years, trying to find something to help with the problems that humanity faced, trying to dream up any sort of solution, but nothing was of any avail.

Summoning that demon was more of an exercise in his capabilities than anything. He might've been able to glean some information off of it in terms of monsters that he had yet to face, but of course something had to go wrong with it. That just seemed to be his life, really. Things go well for a while, then suddenly something goes wrong. He was fine defending Cloudsdale one minute and then suddenly he was outmatched and sent back to Earth.

He pulled his face out of Twilight's fur and registered her hooves keeping her body close to him. "Maybe... this isn't too bad of a place to be right now..." He laid his face back down onto her side, this time turned sideways, and tried to relax. It wasn't too hard, considering how he was wrapped up by the pony he cared for so much...

Twilight

It was hard for panic to set in when they were in such a tranquil position. But however much she enjoyed giving Lucien comfort, she needed to know where they were and if they were in any danger. It was hard for her to see the man, whom she's looked up to for being so strong, break down like that. It wasn't that she doubted his ability to protect them if something were to attack suddenly, but she needed more information. Just in case.

"Lucien...?" she began, letting her hooves slip off his back as she loosened her grip.

"I'm sorry Twilight," came his voice, just barely a whisper above the soft creaks of the broken house.

"You don't need to be sorry for anything," she said, feeling defensive of him.

"But I dragged you into all of this," he insisted, "if it weren't for me you wouldn't be here."

"It's not so bad." She brought her hooves back up, tracing up and down his back idly. "We're here together, and we can get back, I'm sure of it," she said with clear resolve.

"Yeah..." Lucien didn't comment further.

After waiting a few more moments in his grasp, she spoke up again. "Where are we? I know you said—"

"—Newport Beach. A city on the west coast of what used the be the United States of America." He pulled away from her and she shifted onto the bed so they could look at each other while they spoke. "I was called here when the first draug appeared out of the ocean. I couldn't do enough to keep the city safe, neither could the resident magicians, so we evacuated the city before things became... well, this." He gestured to the room around them, with its broken door, torn and soggy wallpaper and giant hole where the ceiling and two walls were supposed to connect.

"Draug?" Twilight asked. She needed to know more still about what they were up against.

"Yeah," he pulled his notebook out of his backpack and flipped through the pages. When he hit the right one, he turned it around so Twilight could see. "The draug are the reanimated bodies or physical manifestations of sea spirits that aren't at rest. Most aren't particularly dangerous by themselves, but they are found in large groups, usually. We had to abandon the city because there were just too many to hold back."

Twilight studied the sketches on the paper. They were disturbing, to say the least. She always had to wonder how he was able to get such detail in his drawings when these things were supposedly so dangerous. A small yellow sticky note stuck to the page gave a "kill count," with tally marks taking up the entire paper. Apparently this was an enemy he had fought and won against many times in the past. So how much did she need to worry about?

"How do we fight them?" was her next question.

"We don't," answered Lucien.

Twilight looked up at him curiously as he tucked the notebook back into his bag. "We're going to make no noise, attract no attention, and get the hell out of this city. We need to get back to my house as fast as possible so we can get back to Equestria."

"That's a plan. That's a good plan. That's thinking ahead. I should really get back to planning more." She stood up. "Where is your house?" she asked.

Lucien rose as well, now slightly towering over her. "Far away. On the east coast. We need to cross the entire country to get back, and we need to do it quickly."

"Okay, that's a good place to start. How far away is the east coast?"

"Far. Very far. Too far to walk, at least. Too far to drive. No planes either, that's gone..." Lucien seemed to have lapsed into his thoughts considering his options.

He snapped. "We'll have to take the Labyrinth."

She hated when he did things like that. Just say something as if it's the most obvious thing in the world and "forget" that she has no idea what he's talking about. So she took her usual course of action in such times, and gave him a very, very serious deadpan expression.

Which he noticed, to her secret delight. "Eheh, um, the Labyrinth is a series of underground tunnels spanning the entire world. Of course, it started the size of a city, back when it was the pet project of this really old mage, but it got out of hand when he died and then it just grew. So, I guess around twenty years ago now, the Trireme Council had the idea to cordon off some of the areas in the Labyrinth to use as sparring arenas for faction trainees and mark off other sections for use of magicians as a whole. It's quick transport, but a little risky."

Twilight looked at him in fascination. She would never tire of hearing about the magical wonders of his world, no matter how much he insisted it was horrible. And now this Labyrinth! Such a creation in Equestria could revolutionize transport and create so much room for cities to expand underground! Only... "Risky?" she had to question.

"Well, we're pretty sure that the mage that created the Labyrinth was so good that he gave it a mind of its own. We're still not entirely sure on how that works."

'Oh. Well. That changes things.' She blinked. "So what does that mean for the Labyrinth then? Why does that make it dangerous?" As the question left her mouth she was pretty sure she could guess the answer.

"Because it changes a lot. And makes people go insane when they roam around for too long. Not to mention that distance and time in the Labyrinth are a little fuzzy. Of course, going down and walking for ten minutes isn't that big of a deal, but going for longer is pushing it for most people," he answered, true to Twilight's guess.

She picked up on the implications of his last sentence. Smirking a bit, she continued the conversation. "But you're not 'most people', are you?"

He gave a quick laugh. "No, I'm not. Longest I spent down there was around twenty-five minutes. Would've gone longer but the hallucinations got to be a little bit too much..." His face fell suddenly, and Twilight could tell he was reliving those memories.

"Okay, so we go in little hops then? You said it warps distance, right? So how many hops would it take to get us to the east coast?" Twilight asked, pulling him out of his reverie and back into their conversation.

"Well..." he rubbed his chin, causing Twilight's ears to twitch at the soft scratching sound of his fingers going over his stubble. "Four or five, maybe. It all depends on how much has changed since I left, and how you react to the Labyrinth." He looked her in the eyes. "No two people ever react the same. Some have a higher tolerance for being down under there, others are weaker. And we never could figure out why, either. The strongest-willed men would break down in the middle of a short journey with no warning. It's... unpredictable."

She hated that word. "Unpredictable." It went against everything she stood for when she was making plans. Of course, she had gotten much better at dealing with "unpredictable" in the years following her final departure from her studies in Canterlot, mostly thanks to a certain mischief-making pink pony, but it didn't change her dislike for not having some idea of future events. And there was no way she was ever going to mess with time again in an attempt to give her past self a warning about the immediate future.

"We need to get going. I can sense the marker indicating where the closest entrance to the Labyrinth is. It's not too far away, but we'll have to pass by a denser area of the city. Do you know any spells for invisibility or something to help us get around without being seen?" Lucien broke her out of her thoughts.

Twilight thought for a moment. "Nothing for invisibility, but I know a spell that'll make us seem less noticeable, the Background Pony spell." She felt around inside herself for a moment and did a quick calculation. "I can cast it on us and maintain it for about 20 minutes, given how much mana I have left. Is that long enough?"

"Should be. As long as it does what you say it will and keep us under the radar. Let's go." He turned and led her out of the room, opening the half-destroyed door and walking down the soggy, mulchy staircase. He stopped before what she presumed to be the front door and held up a hand. Cautiously, he forced the stuck door open just a crack and peered outside. "Okay, coast's clear. Cast it and we'll get going."

"Alright." She lit up her horn, channeling energy, mentally visualizing the arrays of formulas that will form the spell. But... something was off. It didn't feel quite right to her, and the glow her horn was giving off was too... intense. It lit up the walls surrounding them in a harsh flicker, not the soft light that she was used to. She chose to ignore it for the immediate moment and focus on casting the spell, that was much more important.

The proper array formed, she released the spell—

Poof!

She fell backward in surprise at the odd sensation on her horn. Surprise that quickly turned to fear. She started breathing harder, a shiver working its way up her spine. "Why didn't it work? What's wrong with my magic?!" She tried to reach up and feel at her horn, but something stopped her hooves on their journey. A soft pair of hands. She looked up in her panic and saw Lucien was kneeling next to her, saying something but she didn't catch the words.

"What?" she exclaimed in concern.

"Just relax, forget about the spell. You haven't adjusted to Earth's magic field yet," he said, his voice steady and even.

"That... makes sense." She took deep breaths, trying to force herself to calm down. Nothing was wrong with her magic that was permanent. She was just fine. She could still feel her magic, just not cast spells with it. It's not like what happened before, with Bronze Gear...

"Remember back at the library, you analyzed my magic?" Lucien went on in a soothing voice. "That was a version of what Earth's field felt like, just slightly modified by Equestria's field. The sensation should be roughly the same as you felt before." She relaxed more, keeping close attention to his words. "Now, your mana is going to take a little time to adjust to Earth's field, but your spellcasting and the way you use your magic should stay the same. Also, keep in mind that magic manifests itself differently here, compared to Equestria."

He removed one hand from her hooves and held it up, away from her face. She understood why as it lit up in a muted flash of dark green. To her surprise and shock, instead of the soft, malleable aura she was used to seeing magic manifest as, his hand was wreathed in low-reaching flames. They licked upward off of his hand but never managed to get more than an inch away from his fingertips.

He closed his hand and the flames extinguished. She felt it come to rest back on her hooves, reunited with its companion. "Now, Twilight, are you alright?" he asked, his voice touched with concern.

She nodded, still not able to find the right words to express how she felt about the flurry of different emotions she experienced in the last minute.

"Good, because we need to go, now. Especially since we can't use your Background Pony spell anymore," he stood from his kneeling position and helped her back onto her hooves as well.

"Why the sudden urgency?" Twilight asked, fearing the answer wouldn't help her feel any better.

Lucien looked outside the door again, then back at her. "Because I think it's getting darker."

Lucien

If he was right about the time, then there wasn't even time to explain why he didn't have time to explain why he was able to start using magic almost instantly after arriving on Equestria. The truth of that matter was simple, yes, just Earth's mana being more adaptable than Equestria's, but the Labyrinth entrance wasn't exactly close, and he didn't want to encounter any Draug at night. That wouldn't bode well for the two of them.

He pushed the door the rest of the way open, then looked back to Twilight and motioned for her to follow. He unsheathed his sword slowly, feeling its slow slide across the fabric of his shirt. When it had cleared his backpack straps, he whipped it down suddenly, cutting the air itself in its arc towards the ground. He turned to Twilight once more after they had taken their first few steps out, put a single finger to his lips, and then kept going.

They were on a street. Houses, claimed by the sea in all aspects but flooding, lined either side. Remnants of their previous owners still crowded the open area. Flags, party cups, luggage, clothing, all sorts of old items littered the ground, giving the foggy street a somber and desolate feeling. And that went without mentioning the destruction caused by the Draug. Craters, both small and large, pocked the street everywhere. Some lingering scorch marks, clearly made by magical detonations, added to the decorations both on the street and on some of the houses. It definitely looked like the battlefield of a magical war.

Lucien heard the sound of broken glass crunching under Twilight's hooves as they continued walking down the street, the only sound above the moaning of the wind and the creaking of the abandoned homes. While he felt concerned for Twilight harming her hooves, he wasn't going to sacrifice any time or make any unnecessary noise trying to make sure she was alright. They were both still pretty battered and bruised, but that wouldn't compare to how they would be if they didn't make it to the Labyrinth in time.

His eyes darted left and right, probing the depths of the darkness that lurked in the alleyways between houses. Knowing full well that the city was abandoned by all living things after the Draug invaded gave him the safety of knowing that any motion he noticed would be hostile motion. They would undoubtedly encounter the saltwater-riddled beasts, but as long as Lucien saw them first, and they numbered less than five or so, there wouldn't be any issues.

With a thought, Balance flashed out of existence in his right hand and was replaced by Harmony, the chakrams clutched in both hands. Draugs weren't known for being very fast or very armored, so the quick ranged weapon would be most effective in eliminating them. His mind eased a bit with the knowledge that he wouldn't have to get close in any fight.

But they still had a long way to go, and who knows what might lurk in the depths of the abandoned beach city.

Twilight

Walking over broken glass wasn't ever a fun experience, but a plethora of laboratory accidents had taught Twilight good procedures to get around shards of glass on the ground. Of course, not having her magic to just pick up or sweep aside all the pointy little things was a bit of an inconvenience, but she learned how to navigate without her magic as well.

Lucien looked ready for a flight, Twilight noticed. A few minutes ago he had switched to his chakrams, and they cleared the first street a ways back. Now they were on a main street, she guessed, judging by the openness of it, and the abundance of those metal machines, cars. Lucien had told her about them, taught her what he knew about the internal combustion engine, and gave her a few sketches of designs he liked. It still was something else to see them first-hoof. Even if they were ransacked and ravaged by time and the corrosion of the sea air.

Suddenly, Lucien's left hand snapped out to the side, his whole body leaning with the motion. Harmony left his hand in a ethereal blue blur, shooting out over the tops of the cars, out of Twilight's view. Twilight froze, and Lucien held his pose, not moving. A split second later, the gurgling groan of something dying moaned out over the sound of the wind. Another chakram flashed into existence in Lucien's hand (or was it the same one?) and Lucien returned to a normal pose.

His head swiveled on his shoulders as he looked around, searching for anything else that might do them harm. As he looked to Twilight's right, his eyes widened a bit, and he dropped to a crouch, effectively taking cover between the many cars that they were traversing through. He scooted closer to Twilight, then spoke to her in a harsh whisper.

"That was a Draug over there," he said, nodding to his now right, "and I think there's another one over there," he nodded to his now left, "that heard me killing it. So we need to gun it and get away from here quickly, before it decides to investigate more."

"Why can't you just kill that one too?" Twilight asked, thinking that was the most logical solution.

"Because then another one might hear that one dying, and then it just becomes a cycle of me killing Draug to not get noticed, and then we run out of time, which we're already short on. So we need to move, now." He stood up, took one more look over to where he thought he saw the other Draug, then spun on his heels and took off at a slow run.

"Shoot!" exclaimed Twilight quietly, as she took off following him.

They ran for a few minutes, until both starting becoming a bit short of breath. By unspoken agreement, they switched to a jog, and kept moving. Twilight wasn't able to take in much of the scenery as they were moving, but it mostly seemed the same, the street they were on would lead off onto other smaller streets that were lined with houses. Every few intersections they passed would yield some sort of rest stop or a cluster of broken-down stores.

After many minutes of jogging, they returned to walking. No Draug were encountered after the one Lucien had killed, but they were still on full alert for any signs of movement. Lucien turned his head around to Twilight to speak to her.

"We're reaching the city limits. About half-a-mile outside of the city is a pathway into some rocks and cliffs, and in there is a gateway leading down to the Labyrinth, and our way out of here. We're almost out." He said that last bit in a quieter voice, like it was more for his benefit to hear than hers.

In truth, Twilight wasn't too scared. Yes she was in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar monsters looking for her, but there was a very familiar person with her, to make sure she was fine. Not to mention, that unfamiliar place had been of great interest to her since she had met Lucien, and she had since dreamed of visiting one day. So it was hard for her to balance fascination with fear.

But that changed as something went wrong.

As Lucien started to looked back ahead after talking to Twilight, his foot hit something on the ground. He stumbled a bit, but that bit was just enough for him to need to catch his fall on a car. A car, whose battery had survived against time and nature itself to stay active, and keep the alarm ready to blare it's awful siren call to any nearby.

The alarm went off.

Twilight collapsed to the ground and covered her ears with her hooves, but still managed to look up at Lucien to see what he would do.

Lucien looked panicked. It was written on his face, but he still seemed to know what he was doing. His hand lit up in a flash and he put it on the door of the car. The fiery glow got brighter and seemed to flow across the surface of the door, and then the metal suddenly imploded with a rush of force.

Twilight was stunned. He just collapsed that heavy-looking metal door like it was made of aluminum!

He withdrew his hand, letting the crumpled hunk of metal crash to the street. He leaned inside, out of Twilight's view, and then the alarm stopped.

But in its place came something even more alarming.

As Twilight removed her hooves from her ears, they swiveled around her head, picking up the cries and moans of what she could only assume were the Draug, echoing from all over the city. Panic began to set in as she realized just how much they were about to be up against, if they didn't get out in time.

"Come on, let's go!" roared Lucien as he stepped back out of the car.

They took off at a breakneck speed, dodging and weaving between the cars as the sound of the Draug got louder and closer to them. Included now in the screams and moans was the sound and feeling of something very heavy, and much faster than a Draug headed in their direction.

As they passed by another cluster of stores, this one seemingly the last one in the city limits, there was a loud crash, and a behemoth of a creature smashed through one of the storefronts. At first glance, it wasn't like a Draug; it didn't even look like it belonged in the ocean. It was golem of sorts, cobbled together haphazardly with pieces of scrap metal and electronic devices, and held together by thick, heavy chains. It was bipedal, and its main joints, shoulders, hips, etc. were glowing red-hot, like they were still welding together. One of its arms ended in a round saw-toothed blade, and the other in something that looked like it would be used for digging.

It leaned its head back and roared, a screeching, metallic sound.

"It's a Junker Golem!" Lucien shouted from in front of her.

"What?" asked Twilight back, wanting a better explanation.

"A golem that someone built and left behind here! The alarm must have triggered its security measures!" he said without breaking pace.

"Is it coming after us?!" Twilight asked, now slightly more panicked.

"It doesn't matter, we're already gone!" he shouted over his shoulder.

And he was right, the golem was now falling behind them, not that it was making any attempt to follow them as they dodged through the cars. It was more focused on fighting off the first wave of Draug that had reached the car whose alarm Lucien had set off. Twilight didn't have to look to feel the impact of the golem's heavy weaponry devastating both the cars and any Draug that were unfortunate enough to be in the way.

"We're almost there!" Lucien yelled to Twilight.

"I can see that!" Twilight yelled back, her eyes reading the half-rusted sign that displayed the Newport Beach city limits as they passed by it.

But they weren't there just yet. And to prove that point, or so Twilight thought, one last obstacle passed into their view. Another bipedal behemoth, this one bigger than the Junker Golem that broke through the stores behind them, stomped its way into their path. This creature was clearly like the Draug, judging by the massive crab claws, the water endlessly dripping off of it, the blue-ish tint to its carapace, and the tentacle-looking things that writhed around its small head. Twilight was disgusted.

It roared, waving its massive crab claws around in fury.

"Shit!" she heard Lucien exclaim. He spun around to face her. "Okay, okay, not much time here. It's getting hard to see now, and there's a large thing in our way, but that's no big deal." He whipped his backpack off, setting his sword on the ground. Rapidly, he unzipped it and stuck his hand in, felt around for a second, then withdrew what looked like a large sketch pad, the type engineers would use for planning. Before Twilight could ask what he was doing, he zipped his bag back up, and went for a pouch on the front. From that one, he withdrew what appeared to be just a simple, unmarked canister of spray-paint.

"Lucien?!"

The monster drew closer, picking up speed as it stomped and smashed its way through the cars. Lucien set down the spray-paint and quickly flipped through the pages of the sketch pad. After a few flips of pages, he settled on one and ripped it out of the book. He threw the pad back into his backpack and rolled up the paper.

"Lucien!" Twilight yelled. The behemoth was practically on top of them.

"I got it!" he roared back, his arms flaring up in blasts of green fire. He slammed his palms into the ground, and the two cars next to them shuddered suddenly, then launched into the air at a steep angle, aimed right at the creature. It tried in vain to raise its claws to block the projectiles, but instead was hit by several thousands of pounds of metal. It staggered, hard, but managed to stay up as the cars fell to the side.

She made quick note of the glowing cracks in the carapace that made up its front, then returned her attention to Lucien, who was now standing and facing the monster. Looking left and right, she noticed that the cars were not launched directly by Lucien's magic, but instead by large spires of earth that had burst through the surface of the street.

Putting his arms straight out to his sides, his sword and backpack now back on his back, his hands lit up again, and the chunks of earth were severed at the base. They lifted into the air slowly but securely. With what seemed like a great effort on his part, Lucien brought his hands back to his body, then thrust them forward as fists. The rocks he was levitating followed suit, and they launched at the monster in front of them.

Both hit their marks, and the creature went down, crushing several cars and destroying the street where it fell. The threat momentarily taken care of, Lucien turned back to Twilight, picking up the canister and the roll of paper he had left on the ground.

"Twilight, take these, then fly up and move ahead. Keep following the road for another minute or so, keep an eye out for a break in the rocks that make up the cliffs on the right side of the street. Go in there and follow the path until you find an old-looking elevator. Once you're there, spread this paper out on the ground and spray over it completely." He gave her the items and she grabbed them with her hooves, unsure of his plan.

"But what's it supposed to do, and how are you going to catch up?" she asked, completely confused and concerned that he might try to play hero and not escape with her.

"It's a spell, the paper. For teleportation." It was all the explanation he could give before he had to turn around to face the now-standing behemoth. "Go!" he said, before hurling his hammer overhead at the monster. With a burst of energy and speed, he followed suit, impacting the creature and wrenching free his weapon.

Twilight's wings kicked into motion seemingly of her own accord as she realized she needed to move. She took to the air swiftly, overtaking Lucien in a matter of seconds. She shot a look around her shoulder to see that the thing was knocked prone, and Lucien was hammering away at its shell, flecks of the chitinous substance and its blue blood flying everywhere and liberally coating him.

There was a time where she would shy away from the gore, or be repulsed by it somehow, but her past experiences combined with her current drive to escape allowed her to continue unabated. The sounds of the fray faded away into the darkened fog behind her, and her eyes combed the rock face, looking for the entrance Lucien had described.

She bit her lip as she realized quickly that it was too dark for her to make out anything specific. She hovered in the air for a moment, stunned by indecision on the course of action she could take. But only one leapt out at her as being viable.

She gathered up energy hesitantly, remembering what had happened when she tried using magic earlier. Lucien had said it would take some time for her mana pool to adjust to Earth's leyline signature, but she had to do something to produce light. She steeled her resolve, and let the energy flow.

Her horn lit up in a brilliant flash of purple energy, magical flames licking upward into the clouded sky. The rock face was instantly bathed in her light, allowing her to inspect it, and the area around her, in much greater detail. "Yes!" she exclaimed triumphantly as she continued searching for the entrance.

And it wasn't much longer until she found it, a small outcropping between two large boulders that had just enough room for an average human to slip through. Not wasting any time, she dashed in, checked to make sure she wouldn't be ambushed, and spread the paper out on the ground.

The scroll caught her interest, it being a sort of ritual circle, with holes cut out in the shape of runes and lines all across the page. She pinned it down with a thought and another burst of energy, then grabbed the canister, shook it, and sprayed it across the ritual page. When she thought she had covered it enough, she removed the now-white paper and remarked that the sheet had been a perfect stencil. A teleportation ritual circle was sprayed onto the ground before her.

And it didn't take long before the white lines of paint blazed to life in a green glow, heralding the arrival of none other than Lucien.

He gave a quick look-around at his surroundings, then looked down at Twilight. "Good save there, I was beginning to get worried."

Twilight gave him a once-over, noting that he was covered in bits of shell and blue blood, to a greater degree than when she had last looked back at him. "You need a bath," she said succinctly.

He glared at her for a moment, but was unable to hold it as they both burst out into laughter, blowing off the extra adrenaline that engagement had given the two of them.

"Alright, alright, I guess you're right," Lucien said as they broke apart their hug— wait, when did they start hugging? She filed the question away for more examination later, and returned her attention to the man.

"So what's next?" she asked, feeling she knew the answer concerned the old-looking, rusted elevator that they shared the cavern with.

He followed her gaze to the mechanical device. "That leads down into the Labyrinth. We take it, get out, walk for maybe 10 minutes, and then we'll have completed the first leg of our journey," he said with a small lingering smile.

"Then let's get to it," Twilight said, following suit.

Interlude: Straight to Voicemail

[The Tape Begins]

Hey, it's me, I guess. I don't know if this is the right number or if it's the same wrong one again, but I figured I'd try to leave a real message this time, in case it's the right one. So if this isn't the right number, sorry about bothering you like this. I just really need to get this message where it needs to go.

I... um... haha... It's hard to think of what I need to say now that I'm actually doing this.

I guess I'll start out with the obvious. I'm... sorry.

It's weird to say those words now, after it's been so long, but I— it needed to be said. I'm sorry for the way things went, and I'm sorry that you took what I did so hard.

No! No, no, no, that's not what I mean! Sorry, that makes it out like I'm right in this situation, and I'm not. You were right the whole time. I took what we grew and turned it into something it wasn't. Something it wasn't ever supposed to be.

And what I'm most sorry about, is how much that never really affected me. And how it's taken me this long to realize it.

I betrayed your trust and I betrayed the values of the Company. But I don't regret what I did. I can apologize for how hurt you were in the process by my actions, but I stand by what I did, at least a little.

No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to get around this feeling... Some sort of nonchalance towards it all. I just... haha. Emotions kind of lose their meaning, after hitting all the highs and lows, I guess. It's not what I want, but I guess I'm stuck with it for a while.

[The Tape Skips]

I... know it's going to be hard for me to say, but I know that all you want is to understand. To understand why I felt like I needed to do those things, and why I needed to leave later. Maybe not why I needed to leave, because I guess that might be obvious after what happened, but actually talking about it now... it makes me feel something.

So—I'll get right to it. After seeing the way people dealt with each other in business, and after growing up around it with my parents my entire childhood, I knew that there was a way I could make it work for me. I was raised to be a businesswoman, and my skills with magic translated easily into that. I... abused the power I had. Those deals—the tricks and scams and lies that I played other companies with, they were just so easy to do. It was wrong, and I felt horrible at first for even considering doing it...

But then it became the only way I'd do business with normal people.

The more I corrupted them and manipulated them—it just became so easy. I distanced myself from the person I had become, and I didn't even notice when my old self faded away entirely. Well, now I'm going to find her, and you probably won't see me... again...

If this really is the wrong number, then I probably have a lot of explaining to do, hahaha. I can't believe that I'm—no, never mind. I'll just finish what I have to say, and say it to something, even if it's not who I want it to be.

I'll just... take a deep breath. Ahh. Alright.

After what happened in Denver... Oh god I'm still not ready to talk about this. Maybe my feelings are coming back already, if I'm still broken up about what happened. I just...

I know how hard you took it. How much you blamed yourself, how much you blamed me, how much you blamed everyone. The responsibility fell on all our shoulders—the first operators in the Company to die in the field. It was a blow to us all, but you most of all. I know how much younger those kids were than you.

I just wanted you to know that when I heard the reports... that was the first time I felt something... for what might've been a very long time. I wanted to let you know that... you're not the only one that carries that burden. And you will never be the only one that carries that burden.

[The Tape Goes Quiet]

I don't know why I decided to call now. You've been gone for so long, and I don't even know if you're... if you're still alive. Oh, heh, who am I kidding? I've never met anyone so stubbornly dedicated to living than you. I know that I wasn't the only one that went off the radar a few years ago. I still have some ways to keep up on the events of the world.

Four years ago, you disappeared off the streets of New York, and not a single word since. So I really have no idea if this message will ever get to you, but I feel like I'm running out of time, so I'll get to the point of why I'm calling now.

I felt... something. Not long ago. An absence. You can say what you want about how we left off, but we will always have this connection that won't break, despite the things we said to each other when we last met. I felt an absence, and I thought you were gone. Magic is a strange thing.

But a few hours ago, and that's about how long it took me to gather the strength to call you, I felt something again.

I felt you, Lucien.

[The Tape Ends]

Chapter 31: Ghost Town

Lucien

The ride down didn't last long. Twilight was skeptical of the lift's state of repair, and of course the metal device hadn't stood the test of time extremely well. Right before they hit the end of the elevator's shaft, it lurched sideways and clunked hard into the ground with a screech of metal grinding on metal. Lucien's forearm slammed into the side of the box as his other arm shot out to grab Twilight, stabilizing both of them from the sudden change in orientation. After a few seconds in their precarious position, the sound of groaning metal ceased.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she said, her voice a little unsteady.

He nodded. "Let's get out of here, then."

He braced his arm on the side of the elevator shaft and forced the grate open, holding it so Twilight could get out. Once her hooves were on the uneven, damp cobblestone that made up the tunnel they were in, he stepped out himself and allowed the grate to slam shut. Another grinding sound came from the shaft, and they both turned to see the elevator suddenly plummet down, leaving behind a few sparks and a long screech that echoed in their ears for a few moments before it went silent once again.

Lucien chuckled, perhaps a bit nervously. "Well we made it," he said, giving a little half-shrug to Twilight.

"We did. And hopefully we won't have to go back that way," Twilight replied, looking at the remains of the lift.

"Nope. From here it's smooth sailing through the Labyrinth until we have to go back up to change tunnels. Should be about 10 minutes of walking," he pointed, "that way."

"Alright. Is there any way you can clean yourself off? You kinda stink, and you're definitely sticky. It's a little gross," Twilight said, turning her nose up as they began walking.

"Uh, yeah, I think. It's been a while since I've actually needed to use something to clean off." He took off his backpack and held it before him as he rummaged through the contents. "Ah! Here we go!"

Twilight expected to see some form of spellcraft, or at the very least some technological gadget that would be able to spray the gunk off his clothes. What she got, however, was... well... not that.

Lucien withdrew a fistful of wet wipes with a smile on his face, and then set to work scrubbing the crab bits off his person.

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes locked on him in disbelief.

Lucien, after a few seconds of walking and rubbing, noticed her absence and turned around to see Twilight giving him perhaps the hardest deadpan stare she had ever given.

It took barely five seconds of eye contact for Lucien to start squirming. "Stop looking at me like that," he managed to say through his discomfort.

"You..." she began.

"Don't do it." Lucien lifted his arm up over his head and began scrubbing his surprisingly gooey armpits.

"With every spell you know..." she continued.

"Stop iiiiiiit." Lucien threw one wipe on the ground and moved onto the next one.

"You don't know..." she said, a dangerous grin now on her face.

"Noooooooo..." Lucien moaned, sinking to the floor in despair.

"How to use a basic cleaning spell?" Twilight finished with some sort of sadistic mirth.

"I'm too busy to memorize one of thooooose. Besides, who needs a cleaning spell when you have a shower at home?" He pushed himself up off the ground and looked down at the unicorn. She still had a shit-eating grin on her face. "Stop smiling at me and clean me up, would you?"

"So where are we going, anyway?" Twilight asked. "I don't really know anything about Earth's geography, but having a name for our next location would be nice."

"Well," Lucien began, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling as they walked. The tunnel had changed from damp cobblestone to dried grass and dirt walls just a minute or two after the wet wipes incident. They had been in the tunnel for about five minutes total, beginning when they first took the elevator down. He had absolutely no idea where they currently were, in terms of being on the surface, but he supposed that they must, at the very least, be through the Arizona/Utah intersection by that point. "I think we're out of the first state by now, and we're headed to an area in the state of Colorado called Mount Eolus. I've traveled this section of the Labyrinth before, a long time ago, but I was going the opposite direction, so I'm not really sure."

"Alright." Twilight nodded. "Where are we going after that?" came her next question.

"This is our longest leg of the trip, with the shortest amount of time on the surface. The connecting tunnel is somewhere at the base of the mountain, and from there we'll go down south to the state of Texas, a city called Humble. There should be a tunnel leading from there to the east, bringing us to the city of Columbia in Southern Carolina. The state university in the city has the last tunnel that'll take us back to my home in northern New York."

"Yeah. Alright. How much longer do we, uh, have to go down here? We've been walking for, like, fourty hours now."

"Hours? It's been five minutes..." Lucien looked at Twilight with concern. She was blinking heavily, and walking on tired hooves. "Are you alright?"

She turned to look at him with sleepy eyes. "Yeah, mhm, I'm alriight," she slightly slurred.

"Yeah, I don't think you're alright. We're leaving. Right now." He looked around at the walls and ceiling, trying to remember how close the nearest exit is.

"Nah, m'fine. Let's keep..." Twilight's eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped to the ground.

"Right now! We are leaving! Time to go!" Lucien quickly hopped over to Twilight's limp body, picked her up, and threw her over her shoulder. He looked up to the ceiling and braced his legs. "I don't care where we are, we're getting out, now!" He gathered as much energy as he could and thrust it all upward.

With a cracking and crumbling sound, the earth above them split open at an angle just low enough to walk up. After making sure Twilight was secure on his shoulder, he jumped up with a quick burst of magic, then sprinted up the tunnel. As he began running, the earth started crumbling back into position behind him, the Labyrinth closing up the artificial entrance he had made. Channeling more magic into his free hand, he shot a small ball of light to illuminate the narrow tunnel as he was carving it upward.

After a minute of frantic running, the pair finally burst out onto the surface, Lucien getting a few seconds of air time due to his magically enhanced sprint. He landed squarely on the ground, then dropped to his knees, setting Twilight down gently. He watched her chest rise and fall for a few moments, ensuring that she was still breathing. With a huff, he sat down hard, taking a moment to look up at the partly cloudy, blue sky.

He leaned back down over Twilight and examined her face. There was some dirt marking it, and a slight sheen of sweat coating her forehead. He brushed her mane out of her eyes and sighed. That wasn't how that was supposed to go at all. He laid back again, this time putting his back flat on the reddish dirt, his backpack and sword falling to the side.

"Wait, why is the sky blue?"

He sat up again, suddenly alarmed. There was no way it was already morning. Night had just fallen on California's coast, and there's only a one-hour time zone difference. Sure, time and space worked differently down in the Labyrinth, but the last time he made that trip the time distortion was only off by an hour or two. "Time and space..."

"Hold on, this isn't Mount Eolus."

He grabbed a handful of the red dust and looked at his surroundings. It was an old town, dilapidated and only half-modernized. Like the townspeople began renovations but decided to stop halfway. What was left was half ghost town and half commercialized city, ramshackle shacks pressed right up against 21st century stores and houses.

He recognized the landscape. It was an old tourist trap back before the outlying cities of California were evacuated and everyone fled either to San Francisco or Los Angeles. Calico, he believed the town was once called. There was old magic below the ground, a feeling he could never misplace. It brought him back to a looming figure in his past. He felt his thoughts grow dark and his brow furrowed as old memories bubbled to the surface of his mind...

The Church wasn't a faction he could ever see himself believing in, or pledging to, or however it was they worked. Based off his encounters with their... zealots he figured that it wasn't something that he could do. A faction that found strength in their faith. To what deity, he could never tell. Their higher-ups were always secretive, and unwilling to share knowledge. He personally viewed them as hypocrites, preaching transparency and eradication of the blights on Earth, but he could never be sure what side they were on. Sometimes he'd fight alongside members against monsters, sometimes he'd fight against members declaring he was unfit to exist.

But no matter what he felt regarding their loyalties or their beliefs, he couldn't deny their strength. Members of The Church were some of the fiercest allies and enemies he'd ever encountered. He didn't know where all the power came from, or why they chose to utilize their strange, unwieldy weapons, but he knew that it was all effective. They found some sort of magic in the gods of old, and over time Lucien learned to sense that power. He knew he would never wield it, but he could feel it.

And Calico was saturated in it.

It gave him a sort of uneasy feeling; the hairs on the back of his neck rose, and his body remained tense. He and Twilight couldn't stay there. Regardless of what condition Twilight was in, there was no way that they would rest in such a hotspot for magical energy. Especially given how the red dust that covered the area was new, compared to when he saw the town last. Something, or two somethings perhaps, had recently made use of Calico's energy, and he wasn't keen to meet whatever it was.

He gathered his things and picked Twilight up again after checking her heart rate and breath. She seemed to be stabilizing, but she still hadn't woken up. Magical interference wasn't unheard of in similar places and, after the problems they had encountered in the Labyrinth, the energy saturating Calico could be what was keeping Twilight under.

It wouldn't be a long trek down the hillside. Calico was wedged between two steep crests, but the elevation wasn't too high. Walking right out of the town and out of the magic field it was emanating wouldn't take very long at all. Maybe then he would be able to wake Twilight—

"Friend or foe?" A voice cut through the wind.

Lucien stopped in his tracks. "Friend?" he called out hesitantly.

"That a question, or a statement?" the voice called again. It was as gruff and dry as the air that surrounded them.

"Depends on who's asking. A friend wouldn't kill me on sight." He didn't know who might be in such an area, but he knew for a fact that they would be armed. Given that the voice was seemingly coming from one of the buildings, he was pretty certain that they had a gun pointed at his back. Though he didn't believe that the man could see Twilight from that angle. Quietly and quickly, he created a domed barrier around himself, invisible to the naked eye, save a slight shimmer in the air and the dust blowing against it from the wind.

"That is very true. So lemme ask, what's your business around here?" the voice came again. Swiveling his head halfway to the left, he was certain that he had pinpointed where the voice was coming from.

"As hard as it may be to believe, just passing through." He definitely couldn't see Twilight, or the barrier he created. As he continued to ask questions, Lucien put together a clearer picture of who was holding him at gunpoint.

"Passing through? You sure about that?"

This was likely one of the few, probably crazy individuals that decided that the oncoming apocalypse of monsters invading Earth and killing millions wasn't enough to make them abandon their house in Nowheresville. As much as it scared him to admit, there were still those out there that didn't believe that fighting for the survival of humanity was worth moving away from their property.

"Judging by that invisible sword on your back and the barrier you have around you, I'd say you're doing a lot more around here than 'just passing through'."

Lucien's throat dried up.

He immediately spun around, eyes darting to the shacks across from the small building he knew the man was hiding in. As soon as he confirmed he would be out of sight, he dove forward into a roll. Before he hit the ground, he flash teleported, coming out safely behind cover.

A shot rang out and pierced straight through the barrier he had created, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Lucien was hit by the backlash of having a construct destroyed, his head pierced by a sharp ache. He turned his head to the left to see the fiery magical energy, instead of dissipating into the air, get sucked toward the building the man was in. "Oh. That's not good."

Lucien's image of the man had been shattered once already, when he had recognized the spells Lucien was using. For those few, brief moments he assumed that he was engaged with another magician that was wielding a gun. The image that replaced that in his mind was much, much worse.

Rogue magicians that attacked others like them weren't entirely uncommon. Some people just keep to themselves with their magic, or use it to maybe terrorize others or something. It was never Lucien's problem to deal with them, given that he normally allied with the three factions that wanted to deal with the real problem Earth was facing. Elimination of any Rogues was something that The Church seemed to usually handle. But there was another group, one that many knew existed, but none knew much about.

The Hunters.

"It seems we're at an impasse!" Lucien yelled out from behind cover. Magic wouldn't be a very viable in the way of defenses for this fight, given the way that bullet obliterated his barrier. While normally he would find a way to blitz the guy and end the fight quickly, this time around he had a comatose Twilight to worry about as well. And he hadn't even considered if there were more Hunters lurking around.

"Nope, no impasse here. Just you, me, and whatever that freak thing you're carrying around is."

"She's a unicorn, I'll have you know!" Lucien yelled back, subconsciously resting a hand on Twilight.

"Doesn't matter to me, you're sick in the head. Associatin' yourself with some lowlife creature like that," he called to Lucien.

"She's not some creature, you idiot! She's..." He looked over to her. What was she to him? He didn't have the luxury of taking time for a flashback to all the memorable moments they shared, but he knew that she meant a lot more to him than just about anyone else in his life.

"An abomination is what it is. Neither of you have a place here, and I'm gonna make sure you don't get out of here alive!" he finished with a shout of anger.

Lucien flinched as a bullet pierced through the wood next to his head, whizzing right past him.

Charging him with a sword drawn was a great way to get filled with holes, so that option was out. Magic wouldn't be possible while he was able to counter and nullify any spells that required channeling in the area, not to mention that his gun would pierce any shields he conjured. His only options in terms of magic were flash-casts, spells with negligible cast times like short range teleports and kinetic pushes. He definitely used the former a lot more than the latter.

He drew his sword, looked at it for a moment, then changed it to his chakrams. He set them down on the ground and removed his backpack. He unzipped it, rummaged around for a moment, then withdrew a small handgun. He pulled back on the slide, made sure a bullet was in the chamber, then flicked the safety off and on again. He strapped the matching holster around his thigh.

Another bullet chunked a piece of wood from his poor cover.

Lucien secured the pistol in its holster, then stood up with his chakrams. He opened his palms and let the weapons gather speed, hovering in the air above his hands. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to say that he had no idea if what he was planning would work or not. Regardless of how it would play out, he wasn't going to die to some bigot with a rifle. He still had work to do in Equestria.

Casting aside his hesitation, he brought his arms back, palms downward, then launched them forward. The chakrams flew out, then curved hard to the left. Without waiting to see whether they would hit their mark or not, he spun around and looked toward the next shack over. In a quick, fluid motion he rolled and flash teleported simultaneously, appearing behind his new cover. He stood up again, and his sword reappeared on his back, signaling that the chakrams finished their trip somewhere.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, son," the voice called out again.

The crack of a bullet firing hit Lucien's ears, and he saw more wood splinter where he was before. The bullet dug into the dust dangerously close to Twilight's comatose form, a sight that filled Lucien with fear and anger. But the fact that the bullet hit the ground so close to the wall meant that he's not on the ground floor of the building he's in.

He looked up the wall he was leaning on and noticed an open window. With a quick burst of magic, he boosted himself up to it and vaulted in. He quietly crept along the creaking floorboards towards the opposite window, facing the middle ground between him and the gunman.

"What, nothing else to say? Or did that last one finally shut you up?"

He was going to have to hurry up and end the fight before the man figured out he had moved. If he was able to channel magic then he could just project his voice from his first cover, but that option was unfortunately out. Luckily, he had some experience in non-magical combat.

Lucien poked his head out the window slightly to plan his next move. He could see in the building across the way and to the right, the barrel of a rifle poked out between a few slats of a boarded-up window. Maybe he could get across the open area with a teleport, but that might put him in view of the man. Distracting him by throwing his chakrams wouldn't work a second time either. He would just have to hope for the best.

He crept to the wall opposite the window and took a deep breath. Taking a moment to check for any holes in the floor, he braced himself for the worst.

He dashed forward as silently as he could, which wasn't very, and teleported as he leapt out the window—

—And landed on the ground right next to the man's hiding place. Lucien braced his back against the concrete wall and listened for movement.

From up above him and through the wall he could hear the Hunter stomping across the floor.

"Shit, he must've seen me."

Dropping into a crouch, Lucien moved around to the back of the building. His boots crunched on the red dust and gravel, the only sound other than the wind to break the tense moment. His heart pounded and blood rushed in his ears.

He stopped at the corner and listened a second time.

Nothing.

He poked his head around the corner slowly, drawing his handgun with his left hand. There was nothing behind the building save a rusted metal staircase leading to a closed door on the second floor.

He crept forward and up the stairs, each step eliciting a small creak of protest, but not loud enough to alert the Hunter, given the lack of noise.

The Hunter had gone quiet, Lucien abruptly realized. He had stopped shouting taunts, and there was no motion from inside. Without the ability to channel magic, Lucien couldn't check through the wall to find out where he was hiding. Normally he'd be able to check the flow of magic and find his aura through the wall, but the Hunters had found a way around that a long time ago with special marks sewn into their clothing. He would just have to trust his intuition and his luck. He had no way of knowing what the floor inside would look like, either, given how he wouldn't be able to peek in without risking getting shot if the Hunter was aiming right at the door.

Taking a quick breath to steel himself, he kicked the door open, then threw himself against the wall next to it, catching hardly a glimpse of the interior. He waited a moment, pressed up against the wall, but no shot came. Taking another breath, he leaned his head just inside the frame to catch a look inside.

The interior was mostly dark, save the few scattered beams that filtered in through the boarded windows. Dust hovered gently in the filters of light, blurring Lucien's view of the back of the room. There was a battered wooden desk just inside the room; it seemed like it was pressed up against the door but it slid when he kicked it open. The back-left corner was mostly obscured by a waist-high wooden wall, a meeting table seemingly taking up most of the room inside, if what he could see through the break in the little wall was any indication. He didn't want to risk sticking his head in more to look on the right side of the floor.

He would just have to trust his instinct and his luck.

Without another thought, he backed up to the busted railing on the side of the staircase, then ran forward. As he crossed the threshold of the room, he slid to his knees and flashed safely to the segment of the room with the conference table. As he came to a stop, hands and knees on the ground, a bullet whizzed by his head, embedding itself in the wall behind him.

"Well he knows where I am now. Now I just need to find where he is."

"So, uh, how's it going?" he asked lamely.

There was no response from the other side of the room. Not even the sounds of the Hunter adjusting his position. It seemed that he knew Lucien still had no idea where he was.

Lucien turned around to put his back against the aged wooden surface of the conference table, facing the wall with the new bullet hole. He drew his pistol from its holster on his thigh and slid out the magazine. He counted eight bullets, then pulled back on the slide, ejecting a ninth. Catching it easily, he put it back in the magazine, reloaded, and rechambered the shot.

"Riiiight, so," he called out to the other side of the room, "playing hide-and-seek isn't nearly as fun when you don't give me a hint."

He dared to peek his head up from under his cover just a bit, trying to get even a glimpse of the layout of the other side of the room.

And glimpse it he did, before nearly catching a bullet through the eye in return.

His back hit the ground again, hard. He took a deep breath.

The other side of the room was separated by a thin wooden wall, it seemed. There were several gaping holes in it, however, giving the floor's occupant a clear view of the few hiding places Lucien could use for cover. Lucien was able to catch the barest hint of a muzzle flash as the Hunter fired the last time, tracing it back to the back-right of the room. Judging by his accuracy while shooting at him outside versus close range now, he must be using a scoped rifle, putting Lucien at a distinct close-range advantage.

"You're no fun, you know that?" Lucien called out again.

Then, suddenly, he stood up from cover and fired into the gap in the wall twice, before falling to the right and rolling into a flash teleport.

The Hunter's rifle roared as a bullet nearly scraped him through his motions.

Not giving him a chance to breathe, Lucien leaned over his waist-high cover and fired into the wall another three times, only able to approximate where the Hunter was.

As he ducked down again, another bullet slammed into the wall opposite him.

"Only one of us is getting out of here alive, and it ain't gonna be you!" the Hunter screamed, finally breaking his silence.

The rifle banged again, sending another bullet to penetrate through Lucien's cover and miss him by inches.

Lucien, electing not to respond, leaned over to the left and fired at the Hunter again.

"Your aim's awful!" the Hunter shouted.

"So is your's!" Lucien shouted back.

There was a tense moment of silence following their interaction.

Another bang heralded another shot that flew into the wall behind Lucien's cover.

Lucien slid the magazine out of his pistol and took stock of his bullets again. He only had a measly three left, counting the one currently chambered. He would have to either get more accurate, or cheat. What a no-brainer.

After that, several things happened.

Lucien sprang up from his cover suddenly, taking a moment to fire without aiming at the Hunter's location. Simultaneously, Lucien's other hand moved behind him and released a quick pulse of energy, propelling him forward as he vaulted over his cover.

The Hunter fired again, and this time he didn't miss his mark. A sharp pain sprang from Lucien's right arm, the bullet tearing through his flesh.

Using the momentum from his vault over his cover, Lucien launched into a flash teleport, putting him on his feet running straight at the Hunter.

Almost in slow motion, the man scrambled to rechamber a shot in his bolt-action rifle.

Lucien, mid-stride, raised his pistol to eye-level and fired once.

His aim was off, the bullet ricocheting off the Hunter's rifle, disrupting his frantic attempts to pull the bolt back.

Lucien dove to the left suddenly, altering his course to flash teleport through a gap in the wall to the left of the Hunter.

Lucien came through cleanly, rolled on the ground, then came up in a kneeling position.

He saw the Hunter finally, a weathered, grizzly man hunched over a rifle, the barrel aimed right at him, fear clear as day in his eyes.

Lucien aimed his pistol and, without a second thought, pulled the trigger.

Twilight

When Twilight awoke, the sun hung low in the sky.

A dry, dusty air brushed through her fur and brought to her attention just how parched she was. She leaned her head up slowly, only afterward realizing that it had been resting on a folded article of clothing. After looking at it for a moment in confusion, she suddenly recalled all that had happened. She had passed out underground, in the Labyrinth. Something down that had been in her mind, battering at her senses and mental defenses. It eventually became too much, and she had succumbed to the strain, but she knew Lucien must have gotten her out.

Speaking of Lucien, where was—

She felt a hand caress her side gently. "I'm right here," she heard Lucien say.

"W-where's here?" she asked, her voice cracking due to her dry throat.

"We didn't make it all the way to the mountain," Lucien said.

She turned her head around to look at him. As soon as she did, she gasped in shock.

His right arm and his shirt were covered in streams of blood, blood that clearly originated from the small hole present on the side of his upper-arm. Lucien's face was pale, his eyes half-closed. His hair, usually somewhat messy anyway, was haggard and coated in a red dust. In fact, his entire left side was dusty.

"What happened?" Twilight asked after struggling to swallow once.

Lucien averted his eyes.

Twilight immediately knew something bad had happened while she was unconscious.

Even so, as he spent the next few minutes explaining how she had passed out in the Labyrinth and how he had forced his way up to the surface only to be engaged in a lethal gunfight with an unknown assailant, she could only think about how relieved she was that he was fine. His explanation of his wound left her with a sort of hollow rage, a desire for retribution that she knew had already been taken by Lucien, given the fact that they weren't under attack any longer.

She didn't desire to know the details of how Lucien... killed him. Lucien had told her enough about how his world worked to know that, whatever the outcome of their fight, Lucien wouldn't have shown mercy to the man. It was something that she could accept, but never find a way to understand. Taking another's life, regardless of the reason, was nearly unfathomable to her by Equestria's moral code; maybe even her entire planet's moral code, if her knowledge of the other races was accurate.

Regardless of how she felt about it, she had to know one thing. "Why?"

"'Why'?" Lucien asked, somehow confused by the question.

"Why would someone just attack another out of the blue?" Twilight specified, her voice steely.

Lucien leaned back, his eyes remaining half-shut by exhaustion, but she noticed the fire enter and illuminate them.

"The Hunters," he spat.

"A faction, if you would even label it that, of those who believe that the gift of magic isn't something that humans should possess. They've been around just as long as the oldest faction, and they've been hunting down magicians the entire time, utilizing brutal techniques and anti-magic weaponry to do whatever they could to make magic extinct. Some of them even use magic themselves, but only after allowing themselves to be disfigured and beaten, to ensure that they would not survive after their usefulness to the Hunters ran out.

"It's disgusting," Lucien continued. "They're the biggest hypocrites and terrorists this planet's ever seen. People are out there fighting literal nightmares, and these idiots have committed themselves to fighting back against the human race."

Lucien reached behind his back and grabbed something. When his hand came back into view, she saw that he was holding a ceramic jar that was decorated in runes the color and texture of ash.

"This is one of their inventions. I don't know what they named it, if it even has a name, but its only purpose is to render a magician useless."

To demonstrate, his hand violently ignited in a green fire, fueled by his anger. Then, to Twilight's displeasure, the flames were sucked downward off his hand, funneling quickly into the jar. The runes on the ceramic glowed in a harsh red light. Twilight didn't know what they said, but they gave off an aura that set her on edge.

"There isn't a person out there that doesn't know what a Hunter is, and there isn't a person out there that isn't scared shitless by their existence."

Twilight winced at the profanity, but listened as he stood up and continued.

"There weren't many times where I had to deal with them myself or with others, but I've lost friends to Hunters in the past. They come. They kill. They disappear. Cowards."

Lucien dropped the jar on the wooden floor, then slammed his fist down on it, smashing it to pieces. As he did so, a small burst of magic energy was released from the shards of ceramic, swirling upward and fading into Lucien's aura. He sighed, finally, then turned his eyes back to Twilight.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, the anger in his eyes turning to concern.

"Probably better than you," she said, her eyes motioning to the worrying wound in Lucien's arm.

"Oh, right, that!" Lucien followed her gaze and looked at it himself. "I would've fixed it earlier, but I wanted you to see first-hand what the Hunters have in their arsenal. If we're gonna cross the country, then there's a fair chance that we might encounter another one. Knowing what you're up against is half the battle." He channeled some magic into his hand again, then held it over the wound. After holding it there for a few moments, he removed his hand to show that the hole had closed up completely. "I was lucky that it went through clean," he said. "Getting a bullet out with magic can be pretty painful."

'He talks about it like it's an everyday occurrence,' Twilight thought, before realizing that it probably was for him. Or, rather, it used to be. While he did talk about Earth a lot, she didn't know many specifics about his life on the planet. Thinking about it more, she wasn't too sure she wanted to know more about his history with regards to fighting.

"So what do we do now?" she asked, before her stomach grumbled. A blush made its way onto her face as moved a hoof to cover her belly.

Lucien cracked a smile. "I'd say whatever we do next, it should probably involve food. I'm pretty hungry too." As if to underscore his statement, his stomach growled even louder than Twilight's had.

She giggled, lighting her horn up and cleaning all the dust off the two of them. She didn't know when she had gotten so dirty, but it had been stuck to her coat for long enough. "Alright, lead the way," she said brightly.

The smile disappeared from Lucien's face as he stood. "I'm just going to tell you straight up, we're going back into the Labyrinth." Twilight's face fell as the words left his mouth.

"W-what? Why? We just came out of there!" Twilight exclaimed, not at all eager to experience all that mental stress again.

Lucien had a displeased expression on his face. "I don't want to take the risk either, Twilight, but it's the fastest way to get to the next place. We're not in danger of starving yet, but we need food. Besides," his voice went quiet suddenly, "this town... there's an old magic here. It's... unnerving." He had dropped to nearly a whisper.

A chill ran down Twilight's spine. She had felt the influence of another energy too, of course, but she hadn't known what to really make of it. It didn't feel unnerving to her, but it didn't feel comforting either. She had just dismissed it as a lingering feeling after her collapse in the Labyrinth. She didn't know what about it set Lucien off so badly, but she wasn't too keen to see if there was something deeper to it. Even her curiosity needed to have limitations sometimes.

She briefly debated in her mind whether attempting to persuade Lucien in favor of them just staying the night to rest up after their ordeals, but decided it probably wouldn't work. She could see it in his body language as he packed up the makeshift blanket he made for her that he was spooked by whatever he felt here. "Okay. Where are we going, then?"

Lucien looked up, somewhat surprised. He probably thought she was going to question him about it. "There should be another entrance to the Labyrinth at the top of this town, where it intersects with the mountain. We'll take that and head southeast. As soon as I can be sure we're in New Mexico, we can get out. That state still has a lot of operating cities, last I checked, so we should be able to find a place to rest and get food there."

"How long do you think we'll have to be down there for?" Twilight asked, slightly anxious.

"It shouldn't be more than ten minutes," he replied, motioning for her to join him as he walked out the door.

"Ten minutes?!" Twilight exclaimed as they walked down the metal staircase at the back of the building. "You said we were only down there for five before I passed out!"

"I know," he said firmly. "We're just gonna have to make it work out. But trust me," he spun around, kneeled, and placed a hand on her side, "you'll be fine. I'll make sure of it."

A small blushed developed on Twilight's face as she noted how close his face was to her. His eyes conveyed a sort of strong certainty that she found it difficult to remain skeptical of their success. "Alright," she finally said resolutely.

They walked across the dusty, ruined landscape for a few silent minutes. At one point, the influence Twilight felt in the back of her mind grew stronger. They walked carefully over some circular fragments of stone embedded in the ground. She had never seen Lucien look so rattled before. As they moved on, however, he seemed to get better.

Before long, they reached the junction Lucien told her about. Wordless, the pair looked at each other, nodded firmly, then began their descent.

Chapter 32: Brunch and People-Watching

Quick heads up, there's some stronger profanity at the end of the chapter than what this story normally has.

Lucien

When they emerged from the Labyrinth, the sun hung high in the sky. The significant change in time was alarming, to say the least. Lucien had no idea how the time on Earth synced up with Equestria's, or if it did at all. For all he knew, one minute on Earth could be a year in Equestria.

He looked over at Twilight. Her head was held high, ears perked up. A small smile brightened up her face, no doubt from the pride she must have been feeling in herself for not having another problem while underground. Lucien was sure that she understood that they were on a clock of sorts, but he wasn't sure how aware she was of the way time distorts across worlds. Or was it realities? Planes? He still wasn't sure exactly where Equis was in relation to Earth and Earth's dimension. He would have to analyze his spellcircle when they got back to his house.

His house in New York. Across the country.

Damn it all, it'll take forever to get back. There's not even a guarantee that Equestria would be there when they went back.

His dark train of thought must have shown on his face, because Twilight suddenly stopped walking. After a few more steps taken in silence, Lucien turned around to look at her.

Her eyes were locked on something ahead of them, now behind his back. "What is it?" he asked her, after waiting another moment for her to speak.

Shaking her head, she broke from her stupor. She trotted forward a few steps, then fell back to a steady walk. Lucien turned as she passed her, resuming their walk towards the near city. "I just realized that you're still the only human I've ever seen."

Lucien chuckled. "What a coincidence." It seems she forgot what he had said earlier about cities in New Mexico.

She tilted her head and looked at him, confused. "Why?"

"Because that's gonna change in a few minutes." He laughed at her surprised expression. "I wonder how they're gonna react to you," he said, placing a hand on her head and mussing up her mane a bit.

"Hey, stop that!" She sat down and used her forelegs to smooth down any misplaced hairs. "And what do you mean 'how they're gonna react' to me? Will there be a problem?" she asked, concerned.

"Well, no. Unless you attack someone. Probably. I'm betting that most of the people there have seen weirder things, to be honest. There's a lot of summoners out there that have no qualms with bringing a golem into a town while grocery shopping."

"So we won't stick out?" she asked, concern still in her eyes.

Lucien paused for a moment, thinking. "Maybe try to keep your magic use on the down-low." He held up a hand and watched as it burst into his customary magical green flames. "People are probably used to seeing this a lot, but I don't know how they'd react if they saw a unicorn's horn do the same thing. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if most of 'em just thought that you're my summon, to be honest."

"Okay." She shot him a cockeyed glance and a smirk. "Don't let that go to your head, alright?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Lucien

Twilight and Lucien sat at a dainty table in front of a busy café. Sunlight beat down on the city streets around them, bringing into sharp relief the myriad of wondrous creatures and people that were roaming around the nearby marketplace. The two looked on as a hulking, seemingly-steam-powered golem lumbered by their table, a little girl riding on its shoulder and giggling at what must've been her brother as he goofily walked ahead of them.

Twilight didn't pay their waitress much mind as she set the table, placing two glasses of water between them. She hesitated for a moment when setting down Twilight's, but finished through with the motion when she saw the intelligence and curiosity shining in Twilight's large eyes. After giving them menus, she walked back off into the café.

"Are you having fun?" Lucien asked as they began looking over their options for food.

"This is so amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, giggling. "You told me that there was a lot to see on Earth, but I didn't expect all this! I can't believe how incredible some of these people are!" she gestured wildly with her hooves, pointing at a group of wildly-dressed teenagers that looked more suited to be going to Comic-Con than into battle.

"Yeah, uh, don't read too much into those kinds of kids. The ones over there," Lucien said, pointing to the same group she did.

"Why? They look so... so cool!" She practically had stars in her eyes.

Lucien just sighed and rested his chin on his hand. His eyes drifted lazily back to his menu and scanned it. "Cool doesn't win fights," he said finally.

"I know that by now," laughed Twilight. "I've been around with you long enough to know the importance of function over form, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a well-crafted costume!"

Lucien snorted, never taking his eyes off the menu. "Glad to hear it. Speaking of 'function over form', I was thinking we should probably get you a Hammerspace™ Bag."

"A what? TM?" Twilight asked, her brow rising.

"Like my backpack. Extra-dimensional pocket. They're pretty common to come by here, and I figured you could use it to store any souvenirs while we're busy running for our lives on Earth," Lucien explained, finally closing his menu and setting it down on the table.

"If we could get some saddlebags like that, it would be great," Twilight agreed. "And at least we're having a good time running for our lives on Earth!" Twilight chuckled as she saw Lucien crack a smile.

"Cheers to that." Lucien held up his glass, Twilight meeting it with hers a moment later.

The waitress returned not long after, taking their orders and getting back to work. The two sat in silence, appreciating the bustling community that passed by the café. Twilight could hardly keep her eyes off the passerby, until she grew pensive, and turned back to Lucien.

"You know, I'm beginning to see why you enjoy living like this so much," she said, finally.

Lucien looked back at her, an inquisitive eyebrow raised. "Really? I figured sedentary book life was more your speed."

Twilight gave a genuine smile. "It is, but you can't discount all the adventures the girls and I went on. Some of those times really got my heart beating like nothing else can. I'm not sure if I could live like that daily, like you say you used to, but a little adventure is needed, every once in a while."

Lucien nodded. "Well said, Twilight. And it's not like I go on life-or-death adventures every day here. It's just more than the average person. And yeah, I like it a lot. It's not what I'd call a 'healthy' lifestyle, but it's what I enjoy. Having a good time myself and protecting all of this," he said, gesturing to the bustling market before them. Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but closed it as she noticed that he wasn't done speaking.

"Originally, everything I did was to keep humanity from falling apart, since there was a real shortage of capable fighters among us. But it didn't take long at all for things to get so out of hand, and look at the world now." He gestured to a group of teenaged mages comparing summoning notes and attempting conjurations. "When I finished my education in magic, none of this was even conceivable. The idea that magicians could live out in the open like this was laughable. But this... it's beautiful. Even if the circumstance that caused all this is so terrible, I can't help but be grateful because of the community it's created."

"So is that what really drives you, Lucien?" Twilight asked, breaking her silence.

"Yeah," Lucien replied, stars in his eyes. "Magic for magic's sake is pretty great, but it wouldn't mean much if humanity wasn't around to share it. It's been a long fight against all the monsters and nightmares, but I really would've loved to see what's on the other side of it all."

A strange twinge of regret tweaked Lucien's final words, leaving Twilight unsure of how to proceed. It was almost as if he didn't believe humanity would get past their dark age, or that he would somehow not be around afterward. And that switch to past tense...

She didn't have enough time to brood on it though, as the waitress returned shortly with their food in hand. As she set down the plates, Twilight looked hard at Lucien's vacant stare into the crowds, trying to discern his meaning. She couldn't quite drown out the voice in her head telling her that he was hiding something, but it could stay quiet at least until they reached their destination.

Filing away her thoughts for later, she settled to enjoy her meal with her companion.

Lucien

After a satisfying brunch and a quick stop to get Twilight some Hammerspace™ saddlebags in the market, the two made their way to the outskirts of the little city. The walk was made mostly in silence, Lucien figuring Twilight could use some time to sort through the giant helping of humanity she just received. After all, that was her first time seeing human society. All that they spoke about on the way over was their destination, a small, disused cemetery built centuries ago. The plan was to head to the back and locate the next Labyrinth entrance. Of course, though, things rarely go to plan.

As they entered the cemetery, Lucien noticed the sudden chill in the air, and the very glaring and obvious appearance of "spooky" fog. He looked down to Twilight and noticed she was walking with her ears back, a nervous but calm expression on her face. If only she knew what was about to happen.

Not moments later, the two noticed a black-robed figure in the distance, its body mostly obscured by the fog. Lucien sighed dramatically.

"Tch. Oh my god, man, can you just let it go?" Lucien called out to the shaded figure.

"Wait, Lucien, what's going on?" Twilight asked, tugging fearfully at his side.

"Death... approaches..." a disembodied voice whispered in Lucien's ear. And Twilight's, if the way she flicked her's was any indication.

"Would you just cut the fucking theatrics you edgy memelord and get a move on already? Christ's sake, we go through this every damn time!" Lucien drew his sword and started walking forward at a steady pace, Twilight following furtively.

"Slow... down... jerk..." the disembodied voice hissed, though this time it sounded a bit more urgent.

"I'm not gonna 'slow down' you idiot; I've got things to do. Now get out of my way or I'll kill you! Again!" They were getting close to the figure.

"Lucien! Who is that?" Twilight tugged at Lucien's arm and her horn sparked to life in a flash of lavender fire.

"Easy, Twilight, easy. Nobody dangerous." He threw that last word out like an insult.

"Take... that... back..." the disembodied voice whimpered more than hissed.

"Shut up! And get lost!" Lucien yelled while simultaneously slashing his sword. Mid-swipe, he flash-teleported the rest of the distance to the figure, and landed a direct hit. Only, he would have, had his sword not sailed straight through the shadows. "Bro! Just let me kill you already so we can all move on with our lives! Oh, wait, sorry, you don't even have one!" He spun around to face Twilight, looking for his adversary.

"Boo," whispered the voice, directly into his ear.

He spun around again, and caught a bony hand to the face with a resounding slap!

Lucien's head fell to the side with the momentum, and held the position for a moment, letting the feeling of death on his face sink in. Had he really had sunk so low that his best attack was a literal slap to the face?

"Oh, you motherfucker!" Lucien jerked his head upright again and drove his sword through the figure's chest, his other hand keeping a firm grip on his bony shoulder. He could hear bones crack and break as the blade pierced through his skeletal body. A few feet away, Twilight gasped.

"Hey man, fuck you," the figure gasped in a nasally voice.

"Fuck you too," Lucien offered back, a smile now on his face.

"Bring it in, bro! Haha!" His skeletal arms reached around Lucien's back and hugged him close.

"C'mere!" Lucien shoved his sword the rest of the way through his body, the figure gasping as a few more ribs broke, and grabbed the blade with his other hand, holding it to the side as he hugged the skeleton with his free arm. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Around," he said evasively, "mostly just fuckin' with the locals here and there, scoring huge on Halloween, you know how it is." He pulled back so Lucien could see a little bit of his endlessly-grinning skinless face.

"And did you save any candy for me, you creepy bastard?" Lucien's smile matched his own, though maybe not so macabre.

"You know it, dude!" He laughed again once, really hard, then coughed a few times. "So, introduce me to your friend here, would ya?" He pulled away, gesturing to Twilight, who was sitting where Lucien had left her, though now she was slack-jawed and she had forgotten to turn her horn off.

"Yeah, this is Twilight Sparkle, Alicorn Princess of Friendship in Equestria. Come say hi."

The two walked over and stood around her, Lucien's friend giving her some space. Noticing the flames spewing constantly out of Twilight's horn, Lucien reached his hand inside his friend's coat, then withdrew it, the appendage now covered in ice. With a bit of a smug smile, he grabbed Twilight's horn to put it out. Worth it, he decided, even if he had to stifle his laughter as Twilight squeaked, her face turning the approximate shade of a tomato.

His friend raised an eyebrow at her reaction. Figuratively, that is.

"Twilight, this is Ty. Ty, Twilight."

"Heya," he said cheerfully, waving a single bony hand. His little moment of good-will was, of course, ruined as he doubled over in a coughing fit. Lucien hit him on the back a few times, trying to loosen the load.

"Come on, come on, you're alright, spit it up." After a few more hits, he coughed once more, a live mouse flying out of his jaws.

Twilight reared back as the creature landed on the ground before her hooves and skittered away. After she had settled down again, she gave the two a stern glare. "Why didn't you warn me about any of this?" she demanded, gesturing emphatically with her front hooves.

"It never came up," Lucien shrugged, grinning at Ty.

"And is Ty really his name? Because I'm pretty sure most Liches don't have normal names like that." She harrumphed and sat back, crossing her front legs and pouting.

"Well, my real name is Rty'ugo, the Warden of Winter, but Ty just rolls off the tongue so much better, don't you think?" Ty asked, fluttering his eyelashes at her. Figuratively.

"I... guess so?" Twilight ask-answered. Apparently she didn't get the meaning behind Ty's eyelash-flutter. "Care to explain how you two met?" she asked, looking at Lucien now.

"When was it, Spring Break, '23?" Lucien asked Ty, grinning impishly at his skeletal chum.

"Cabo San Lucas," he sighed in remembrance, putting one bony arm over Lucien's shoulder and looking off into the distance with his empty eye sockets. "A full week of nothing but babes, beer, and ancient evil curses. Those were the days, eh? Now it's just all 'go blow up a monster nest over here', 'go raise an undead army over there'. I tell ya, the world isn't nearly as forgiving as it used to be."

Lucien laughed and shook his head, putting his arm over Ty's shoulder. "Those really were the days..." He sighed once and looked back at Twilight. She was glaring even harder now. Yikes. "Anyway, we met before I had started really getting concerned about the lives of everyone on the planet. I was on vacation from my studies under my mentor, and I decided 'how better to spend a vacation in Cabo than by practicing Necromancy?' It seemed like a benign enough hobby, anyway."

"Raising the dead. A hobby. Benign." Twilight was deadpanning to an almost painful degree. Lucien made sure to watch his next words.

"Well, as close to a hobby as it gets before you grab the attention to an up-and-coming lich right around the corner." Lucien went from nervously watching Twilight's expression to giving Ty a noogie as he spoke.

"And there I was, Twilight, wondering what foolish mortal had decided to start attempting to summon the eldritch gods when I got caught up in his summoning circle! I mean, can you believe it?"

Twilight's narrowed eyes seemed to be the only answer he would get.

Ty pulled nervously at the collar of his black, deathly robes. "Luc, I don't think she likes me," he whispered.

"Nonsense!" Lucien suddenly bellowed, causing Twilight to jolt in surprise. "She's probably just nervous because you're a deadly spirit of ice and death! But we both know that underneath that cold, bony exterior," he jabbed him in the broken, now-mending, ribs a few times with playful punches, "you really have a heart of gold, am I right?"

"Ah, Luc, you flatter me." He turned to Twilight. "In truth, he had to kill me a few times because I couldn't see past my own anger from being captured to see what a super chill guy he was. It only took a day or two for us to mellow out a bit and become best buds! High five!" He held up a bony claw and Lucien slammed it with his own hand, causing Ty's to fly off into the distance.

It only took a second of the two watching it sail off into the fog to burst out into laughter. Ty actually doubled over into another coughing fit in the middle of it, but there was no stopping Lucien. Or so he figured, until--

"Ah-hmm." Twilight didn't seem to find it as amusing as they did.

It took a second for Lucien to compose himself, but he eventually got his laughter reigned in. "Oh man, I'm sorry Twi, but this guy just kills me whenever he shows up. Eh? Kills me?" Lucien held his arms out, waiting for the gracious round of hoof-stomping, but it never came.

Ty was still in the middle of a coughing fit, but he managed to flash Lucien a thumbs-up in the middle of it. "Good one!" he squeezed out between coughs.

"Anyway, Ty, I'm glad you're here. We're on our way back to my place in New York, care to come with?" Lucien asked, patting his back a few times to help clear up the fit.

Lucien caught Twilight shaking her head NO and frowning out the corner of his eye, but it morphed into an extremely-fake smile as soon as Ty recovered.

"Look man, I'm glad you urp that you eugh found a girl after all that biz with Charlotte, but it's not my place to go globetrotting anymore. Heh, trotting." Twilight's smile morphed into a glare that shut him up. "Anyway, you know what the Labyrinth does to my bones, man. Can't go down there anymore."

"Alright, you rascal, I get it. Can you at least point us toward the nearest entrance? I know there's one close by." Lucien asked, moving to stand beside Twilight.

"Yeah, it's in that crypt over there, the one with all the cobwebs and junk," Ty offered, pointing his remaining hand into the foggy distance.

"Alright, alright. Thanks, bro. I'll see you later." Lucien gave Ty another quick one-armed hug and a fist-bump, then started to turn to walk over to the entrance.

"Oh, hold up one sec, Luc," Ty called out, a strange nervous quiver now present in his voice.

Lucien turned around to see that he was fiddling with the edges of his robe, something he only did when he had bad news. "Oh shit man, what is it?" Lucien asked, unsure if he wanted to know the answer. Ty was a pretty powerful lich under all that sweet bro-ness, and with that power came some slight prophetic ability and skill with divination. What he was doing was trademark Ty for "Shit's about to go down for you."

"When you come out of the Labyrinth, you're not gonna like what'll greet you. Who, I should say actually." He paused and scratched the back of his skull. "When you came back to Earth, it wasn't exactly... quiet. A lot of people know you're here now. A lot of people that would really like to see you riddled with holes and other things that make you not-alive, y'know?"

Lucien knew, and he knew well. After that first encounter with the Hunter in Calico, he knew that his arrival with Twilight made a bit louder of a splash than he had wanted. Why else would a Hunter, a person capable of deadly combat force, be stationed so close to No Man's Land, where hardly anybody lived anymore? Additionally, he was sure the only reason they hadn't been ambushed in the city was because of his choice of eatery, right next to the crowded magic market, and the two running into Ty directly outside of the city. For all the messing around the pair engaged in, Ty was still a lich, and a powerful one at that. It wouldn't surprise him if a team of mages saw them all meet and chose to retreat, or watch instead of attack.

"I'll be safe. I promise." Lucien couldn't help but shiver as a chill ran down his spine. "And, in case I don't get another chance to say it, see you later."

Ty smiled. Figuratively. "I'll see you later too, dude. I'll call you up in Equestria sometime. Just because I can't go down to the underground anymore doesn't mean extraplanar travel is beyond me."

"Now c'mon, let's get the two of you underground. The faster you're back to Luc's place the better." And with that, they were ushered into the dark, dank crypt Ty had mentioned earlier. The stone lid ground shut over their head, ensuring there would be no turning back beyond that point.

Author's Notes:

5

Chapter 33: Gatekeeper

Twilight

When Twilight and Lucien emerged from the next section of the Labyrinth, it was already dark out. Twilight looked to Lucien's face in the dim lighting and could see the frown that dragged down his features. It was unfortunate that they had lost so much time on what Lucien had explained to her while underground as a "short trip". It was stressful, to say the least, not knowing how the passage of time on Earth equated to the passage of time in Equestria.

"I know what you're thinking, and stop," Lucien said gravely. Her face must have soured while thinking. "We can't afford to worry about what's going on in Equestria right now. I don't know what's waiting for us out there, but I do know that we need to be completely focused on our objective. Ty doesn't make predictions often, but when he does, they come true."

Twilight nodded firmly, setting her eyes ahead. He spoke those final words with an air of knowing. She knew he had dealt with some serious problems in the past, and suffered some serious losses as well. Could Ty have predicted the tragedy in Chicago that still seems to hang over Lucien?

"Okay, we're good to go."

The pair exited the rocky outcropping they had been talking in since leaving the Labyrinth. As they walked out into the moonlight, Twilight was easily able to see for miles around them. They had come out onto a desert plateau that stretched on until the sky met the earth. She was stunned to look and see the unfamiliar night sky above them, the stars splashed out into a baffling, beautiful expanse. How strange it was that something so familiar to her at home could be so different here... and yet... she felt comforted by their light. She couldn't quite put it into words, but it felt perhaps reassuring to know that some things would never change. The night sky would always be there for her to find solace in, regardless of where she was.

"It's one thing that never changes."

"What?" She must have spent too long staring up. He's getting better at reading her too.

"The stars."

"...Yeah."

"No matter where I go, Equestria, Earth, maybe someplace else entirely... the stars are always the same."

They shared a look after a moment's silence.

"I'm glad you're here, Twilight. I just wish it were under better circumstances."

"I... feel the same way, Lucien." Twilight felt a warmth in her chest as she looked at the kind man she had been journeying with. He seemed older now, like their adventure had left a physical mark on him thus far. It could've been a trick of the light, but it almost seemed he had more wrinkles on his face now, and his hair, usually a cocoa-brown, looked more faded than before. He had explained to her once that magic-users on his planet aged differently than the normal population, but there was no way just a few days could put so many years on his features. Of course, she couldn't say he looked bad now. Her eyes trailed along his jawline, up past his cheeks, wrinkles bored in them from years of smiling, and came to rest on his own eyes.

She'd been staring. A lot.

But he seemed to be staring back.

"Lucien..."

A distant howl echoed across the dusty landscape. Lucien's head snapped in the direction it came from, Twilight's ears only swiveling, her eyes locked on his. And like that, the moment was broken.

"We need to keep moving. I don't like the sound of whatever that was. We're wasting enough time here as is," he said in a voice that Twilight could only describe as callous.

Her ears fell flat. "What am I thinking? What am I doing? We need to get back to Equestria, not spend time just staring at each other. But... is it bad that I want to?"

Lucien

That came out much harsher than he had intended. But he was right, they were only wasting time by waiting around. As much as he wanted to take some time and enjoy Twilight's company while they're on his home turf, they were on the clock. He could grapple with his emotions later on, when the fate of Equestria didn't hang in the balance. Oddly enough, that seemed to be a situation Twilight and her friends encountered quite often. The thought couldn't quite bring a smile to his face, but it was enough to move his mind in the right direction.

"Alright, we're heading over in that," he pointed out across the expanse, "direction. Humble should only be a few miles away, so it shouldn't take too long to reach. Especially considering our mode of travel."

"Walking?" Twilight asked, confused.

This time, Lucien did smile. "Nah, I'm gonna be stupid and waste a ton of energy to get us there faster." With that, he pulled off his backpack, rummaged around inside for a moment, then withdrew a can of his own special upgraded Red Bull. "Cheers." He popped the tab and chugged it down, feeling the liquid energy swirl around inside him as the drink went.

"Whew, can never get used to the kick those things have," he said upon emptying the can. Resisting the urge to start literally vibrating due to the large amount of energy he'd just ingested, he tossed the can back into his bag and slung it around his back again.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Styling!" Lucien exclaimed, grabbing Twilight by the barrel and lifting her up. She squeaked as he lifted her, and he would bet that she had a massive blush on her face.

"Lucien!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Style!" he yelled before jumping off the rocky outcropping they had been on since emerging from the Labyrinth. However, instead of the hard landing that Twilight no doubt expected to await them, the earth bent down with them, catching them softly. For a brief moment they were cradled by the dust and stone, then they were catapulted forward.

Lucien found a firm footing on the rock slab he had conjured as the earth bent and wove beneath his feet, shooting the two forward at an incredible speed. He looked down and saw the earth crumble and shift out of the way, the stone reworking itself to make a path for the pair. Making sure there was enough room, he set Twilight down behind him, making sure she had her footing-- hoofing.

"You're insane!" Twilight yelled at him over the sound of the wind and rock. He looked back at her briefly and noted that she was smiling despite the shock he had given her.

He chuckled to himself. "So you like my ride?" he called over the wind.

Instead of responding, she just laughed aloud shook her head. Lucien turned his attention back to steering but was caught by surprise when he felt a pair of forelegs wrap around his midsection and hold on tight. He swiveled his head back once again to see Twilight, blushing, using him to keep her balance.

It only took a few minutes of traveling across the dusty, starlit expanse to see the edges of the town they were traveling to. Lucien's eyes narrowed as they entered the outer rings of neighborhoods.

The houses, though clearly not of a great quality beforehand, were in various states of disrepair and dereliction. House by house sailed by, each one featuring collapsed roofs, destroyed walls, and, sometimes, strange remains. Something, or more accurately, a swarm of somethings attacked the town long ago, if Lucien's educated guesses were anything to go by. The actual city was still pretty far off, but it didn't look to be in much better shape.

He could feel the next Labyrinth entrance's marker pulling at his attention, a few miles further ahead in the business district of the city, but something else was grabbing at him. There was a magical presence off to the north, something he could only barely detect. Still, something about it felt strangely familiar.

They had wasted enough time fighting and getting sidetracked as is, but he felt like he needed to go investigate whatever it was. They didn't have to fear an attack at the very least, given how dead the town was. After a few seconds of weighing the pros and cons, he made the decision and took a hard left, banking on his mobile rockslide.

"Lucien? Aren't we supposed to be heading straight?" Twilight's voice came from close behind him.

He turned his head to shout over his shoulder at her. "There's something I need to check out first!" He had learned to trust his instincts a long time ago, and he wasn't going to abandon them now.

It was only another minute of travel before they arrived at their peculiar destination. Peculiar because it wasn't much of a destination at all. The feeling, the pull he experienced in his gut, was leading him to yet another broken down house. Though this one was different from the others, in that it was sunken down into a sinkhole rather than destroyed by time.

The rockslide slowly ground to a halt and Lucien and Twilight disembarked. The ground rewove itself back into its normal position behind them, rumbling gently.

"You felt it too?" Twilight asked Lucien.

"Yeah," Lucien responded simply. Now that they were closer, he could make out the finer details of the familiar magical signature. Down in the sunken ruins of the house he could feel a relic that was keyed to Equis' and, more specifically, Equestria's magic. It was a faint echo of a familiar spent power, something Lucien had seen and experienced before in his travels.

"Someone opened a rift to Equestria here," he said after a few moments passed in silence. They were both standing by the edge of the hole, looking down at the wreckage. Twilight turned her head to look at him, though he didn't meet her gaze. "I'm pretty sure this is Aiden's house, actually. Feels a little too familiar not to be." Well that solves the mystery.

He opened his mouth to call for their departure, but his voice caught in his throat as a new presence entered their area like a supernova washing over the two of them. It took only a second for the burst of intense power to fade, but he got a feel for it in that short of a period.

It was Chaos magic, a rarity on Earth, but not quite so in Equestria. And he only knew of one "person" that was able to do that. Which was why he hardly needed to turn around to confirm who it was behind them. Although, Twilight's gasp did wonders for that.

"Discord," Lucien said evenly, turning around.

What he expected to see and what he actually saw were two very different things entirely. He had briefly interacted with Discord while in Equestria, the mismatched creature seemingly avoiding him whenever possible. So it was to his surprise when he saw that there was not a draconequus but a rather well-dressed man.

He looked to be about middle-aged, perhaps in his 50s, if the slightly-silvered surfer-style wavy hair was any indication. He wore a pair of brown slacks and a suit jacket of the same color, buttoned over a yellow dress shirt with a matching whimsical "Shit Happens" smiley-face tie, a pair of brown flip-flops completing the ensemble. His eyebrows were just as wild as ever, though now they were lowered, matching his downbeat expression.

"Why are you here? What's happening in Equestria? Is everyone alright?" Twilight ran forward, moving past the change in appearance much faster than Lucien had.

He had a sinking feeling in his gut about his new looks though. Some suspicions that weren't going to be put to rest until he got answers out of the man.

"Settle down, Twilight, I'll be happy to explain everything." He turned and motioned to the side of the sinkhole, where a patio set had materialized suddenly.

The group made its way over, slowly finding their seats on the brightly colored furniture. Lucien took his and leaned forward onto the table, fixing Discord with a harsh glare.

He noticed, if the way the ground suddenly grabbed at his attention was any indication.

"So what's happening back in Equestria?" Twilight asked, her eyes wide in concern.

Discord let out a slow breath, looking back at her and still avoiding Lucien's gaze. "Your friends are all alright, my dear Twilight. As are the Princesses and everyone's loved ones, as best I can tell. The Engineers caught Canterlot by surprise with their flight from Cloudsdale, and their anti-magic weaponry was too much for their siege to be halted. They occupied the city within a day of their attack; everyone got out when they could. Last I checked, their warship was traveling to Manehattan, where they will undoubtedly experience the same success. The Princesses and most of Equestria's minor towns and cities evacuated to the Crystal Empire immediately. Hopefully the defenses there will be enough to stop the charge, if the Engineers even want to siege the city."

"How long has it been? Since we were gone?" Twilight asked quietly. "And why do you sound so different?"

"Much has happened since you left," Discord said, forlorn. "It's been a week in Equestria, and I suspect just about as much time has passed here on Earth." He ignored Twilight's secondary question.

Hearing Discord say the name of his planet, his home, caused something to shift inside of him. The tone of his voice, the familiarity, the way he looks... "You would know, wouldn't you?" Lucien finally broke his silence sharply, the words harshly spoken.

Twilight looked to him, confused and concerned. "I thought it was weird when you didn't talk to me, didn't interact with me, barely even looked at me. And I had this slight suspicion that you always knew a little more than you should. References that you shouldn't be making, jokes that you shouldn't be cracking. It wasn't much to go off, but something about you kept reminding me of here," he said, gesturing to the landscape around them.

Discord sighed and smiled softly. "It wasn't that big of a stretch to make after that, was it? Yes, I am from Earth."

Twilight shifted forward in her chair, her ears snapping to attention.

"But there's more to the story, and there's more to it than you might think, Lucien, whatever that may be. I have more important things to tell you besides the state of your friends in Equestria, information that needs to be passed on, because it will undoubtedly help you in your eventual fight against Sandcroft."

Lucien's back went straight, his hands clasped tightly together. "I'm listening," he said, voice taut and hard, like a steel cable stretched to its limit.

"My story begins here on Earth, before all that you see around you." His hands spread wide, and the world washed away around them like chalk in the rain. The three were left sitting on their table in a black void; then color and sensation came rushing back. They were sitting on the shores of a warm and sunny beach, looking out at the waves. Several fruity-looking drinks had appeared on the table.

"I was young when everything started. Just another college student looking to skip class and spend time at the beach instead." He pointed out into the waves. Lucien and Twilight followed the gesture and saw a young version of the man before them, his hair long, blonde, and shaggy instead of the current grey as he rode a wave in to shore. "Destiny wasn't something I had considered before, aside from the drunken ramblings I occasionally indulged in as a business major, but it was something I could no longer deny after this day."

The world once again washed away before them, but this time it was quickly replaced by a similar scene. They had relocated to the patio of a house, the sound of the ocean reaching them from what sounded like only a block away. The young Discord was strapping his surfboard to the top of his car, when the sudden sounds of a car's brakes grabbed his attention. He turned to look to the middle of the street just in time to see an older man get clipped by a speeding car.

"Looking back on it now, I can see with such clarity the way fate conspired to put me in this position. A crowded day at the beach, yet nobody was around except for me and him." The young Discord ran out to the prone man as the car sped off. He yelled something incomprehensible at the taillights, then turned his attention to the bloodied man. Some words were exchanged quietly between them, then he fell limp to the street.

"He died before I could even hear his name, or for him to tell me the words that would've changed all our lives." The scene paused before them, and Discord stood, walking over to his younger self. "This is the moment where the fates of two worlds changed. The moment where that man's power passed to me, and I inherited the title of Gatekeeper of Earth. The whole thing reads like the exposition to a bad story."

The world blurred away again, this time reappearing quickly as the interior of a police station. Despite the bustle around the young Discord being questioned by an officer, Lucien and Twilight could hear nothing. "It was not something I could feel at first, but I became acquainted with my newfound abilities over time." His voice echoed around them as he was no longer present in the scene. "Nobody was ever able to identify the man or find out what happened, because his body disappeared not long after he had died. I looked away to call an ambulance and when I turned back he was gone. It was still enough for the police to come though, and I, shaken as I was, could only tell them what I saw.

"It didn't take long for them to dismiss me and call off any idea of an investigation." The scene blurred and reformed as the young Discord was sitting at a chair in what appeared to be a standard dorm room. Posters for alternative-rock bands adorned the walls, and a medium-sized acoustic guitar laid on the bed in the corner. Lucien and Twilight watched from behind the young man as he twitched with an ethereal energy, before some of it discharged and jolted the contents of the room. "I wasn't able to get a grasp on anything that had happened. The disappearing man, or the sudden appearance of what could only be called magical powers."

Their Discord strode into the scene suddenly, colors coalescing and shaping into his figure. He placed a hand on Young Discord's desk and looked down at him. "I kept it all to myself after taking a few days to get things under control, of course."

The scene bled away, Discord holding his position this time. When the color refocused into coherent positions, Lucien and Twilight could see that he now had his hand set on a table outdoors. They were seated in an outdoors dining pavilion, college students dining ravenously around them. Young Discord sat at the table their Discord was leaning on. The younger man was smiling and had his arm around a pretty, blue-eyed woman. A few others sat across from them, laughing along with what Young Discord seemed to be saying. After a few moments, he sat forward and pointed across the dining area, at a trash can several beefy-looking men were walking past. With a snap of his fingers, the trash in the can exploded outward, covering them in assorted garbage. The group at the table laughed even harder watching this. The scene paused, and their Discord placed a hand on the woman's shoulder.

"My dear Sofia," he said with a sad smile. "The last times we spent together were the best we ever had." The scene spun 90 degrees, shifting in the blur to a new one. Sofia and Young Discord seemed to be locked in an argument on the lawn outside a house party. The scene spun again and the two were outside Young Discord's dorm room, Sofia carrying a packed box of items, Young Discord following with his head down. The scene spun one more time and Young Discord was sitting at an empty table in the dining pavilion from before, looking off into the distance where Sofia was talking to several others.

"It was our relationship ending that motivated my change." Discord narrated, unseen. The scene before them slowly faded to darkness, though Young Discord and Sofia kept their color and clarity. "We had been together for three years, seven months, and fifteen days when she broke my heart. She said my new abilities had changed who I was, and she couldn't be with who I was becoming." Young Discord and Sofia slowly faded away as Discord continued. "I was going to propose to her at the end of that school year."

Color faded back in again, this time muted and grayed. Young Discord sat cross-legged in his dorm room. "I explored my new power and found that while I still had significant physical limits, my mind experienced no such drawback. Through meditation and exploration of the flow of magic around Earth, I began to learn about my role on the planet. It was a lot for a college student to take in." As he spoke, Young Discord suddenly recoiled and fell over backward, his chest heaving with ragged breaths.

"But it wasn't my problem." The scene paused as Young Discord struggled to sit up, his eyes wild and his forehead covered in the light sheen of sweat. Their Discord's voice had gathered an edge to it as he spoke. "No, it was never my problem. I could feel the claws of nightmarish monsters digging into the flow of Earth's natural energy. So many that it constantly threatened to rip the boundaries of this reality and begin destroying it in time. I made the connection that it could be my job to prevent these monsters from entering. But I reasoned with the idea, bargained with it. I could feel the immense power of the forces trying to bring Earth down, and I figured that more like me must exist around the world. That I couldn't possibly the only one holding the Gate to Earth shut.

"I had fallen into a depression shortly after Sofia left me, and began failing my classes as well. Responsibility slid off me like oil on water, and this one was no different. I just wanted to leave and come back when things weren't as bad. When things made sense and I understood myself again."

The colors faded away again, this time slowly returning to show Young Discord wearing a backpack and light hiking gear as he walked through a forest. "I paid no heed to the pulling at the core of my being that told me to stay and keep the Gate shut, to stay and defend my home. I was done with my home, I needed somewhere new." Young Discord stopped suddenly, looking forward. He snapped his fingers, and a door appeared before him.

"I shook off my responsibility and forgot about the ties that bound me to Earth. And I left." Young Discord opened the door, revealing nothing but a bright white light. He squinted into it, then hesitantly stepped through. The door closed shut slowly of its own accord, then winked out of existence, leaving no trace that it was ever there. The colors of the scene ran away, leaving nothing but darkness.

Discord walked in from nowhere, taking a seat at Lucien and Twilight's table. The darkened landscape of Humble's outskirts came rushing back underneath them, sticking back to their original positions and holding fast. "I arrived in Equestria, long, long before you were born Twilight. As I passed into the world, its magic grabbed at me and twisted me into the mangled creature known by ponykind as a draconequus. I was the only of my kind, and I was keenly aware of that. The locals shunned me, and I them as well.

"I isolated myself and experimented. The best I could figure with regards to my transformation was that Equis' natural magic interacted poorly with mine, given that I was Earth's Gatekeeper, and disfigured me in such a way that it could make me stable while on the planet. I wasn't in any state of mind to question it, given how I went mad not long after." Discord looked down at his hands as he spoke. "Isolation and too much experimentation with the only kind of magic I could harness, that of Chaos, led me down a path that I couldn't return from. It didn't take me long to start laying waste to the land and launch a conquest for whatever reason popped into my mind at the time. Ponykind knows this as the Reign of Discord, a period of nonsensical time where I forced the world to obey my every whim. That is, until two alicorn sisters by the name of Celestia and Luna ended my reign of terror, imprisoning me in stone.

"Millennia passed, and I gathered enough strength to break free, only to be stopped again by a certain lavender unicorn and her five friends," Discord said, shifting his gaze to Twilight. The mare in question narrowed her eyes back at him, a reaction Lucien was surprised to see.

"And the rest is history. I had wondered before why I was even able to enter Equestria in the first place, given my correct assumptions that every world has its own Gatekeeper, but that was answered the day I was released from stone once again and recent events were explained to me. The only reason why I was on Equis in the first place was because Equis' Gatekeeper had allowed it. After all, nothing gets in or out without his say-so. It was stranger then that I never encountered this Gatekeeper.

"It was only after I saw Lucien and heard about the world he had come from that the full reality of my mistake came to hit me. The carefree stupor that I had operated in for the past several-thousand years faded away, and I felt as young and worried as the day I had left Earth."

Discord's gaze reluctantly shifted to Lucien's, and he noticed that the ex-Draconequus' yellow and red eyes had not changed from the way they were on Equis. "Several events conspired to cause the events that lead us to that planet, my friend. Destiny was something I said I believed in after that day so long ago, but I see the truth now. It was evident from the start, but I hadn't glimpsed the full picture until that thing began his attack on Canterlot.

"I'm sure you've realized it by now as well, Lucien. Neither you nor I arrived in Equestria by chance. The events in our lives were set in motion long before we could've changed them. The being known as Sandcroft has been alive far longer than any of us ever suspected, I'm sure. Perhaps from even before the foundation of Equestria as a nation. He's played the longest con I've ever seen, aligning his pieces in such a way to stack his influence not just across Equis, but Earth as well. I'm still not sure how, but I know he engineered my ascension to Gatekeeper of Earth and influenced me enough to know that I would abandon my post here even before knowing what my job was. He saw you leave your life in New York City behind to search for a solution to humanity's problems, the problems that I unwittingly and unknowingly had caused. It seems that the only force he hasn't harnessed is the distortion of time between our worlds, if the way time has progressed from when I left Earth and arrived in Equestria compared to now is any indication. After all, I only departed from Earth no more than three or four decades ago."

Discord paused to take a breath. "Lucien, I apologize for the destruction of our-- your planet. The course of action I chose so long ago was rash and uninformed, and it left Earth compromised of its only defender from all the horrors we could imagine. For that, I am truly sorry." He turned his attention to his right. "And Twilight, I am sorry for the way Equis has suffered from the effects my decisions have led to, regardless of Sandcroft's involvement. My interference with Equestria and my lack of interference with Earth has led us to this moment, where the fates of two worlds hang in the balance."

He looked back at Lucien. "So, I came here to begin to help make things right. My power, the power of a Gatekeeper, is not all-encompassing nor all-knowing, despite what Sandcroft may have you believe. While I am currently the best-suited individual for disposing of the monsters that have infested the planet, I cannot single-handedly defend Earth. I understand that in my absence humans have developed a community that can harness Earth's magic and have been using it to fight back against the darkness. I can only hope that they will accept my help and allow me to begin cleaning up the mess I've made."

His eyes narrowed. "Lucien, Twilight, I am sure you know by now the way that a Gatekeeper's magic operates. I trust that you will be able to take the necessary precautions and make the necessary sacrifices to stop the creature that is attempting to destroy not one, but two worlds. You don't need me to tell you just how much hangs in the balance."

Discord raised a hand and snapped his fingers sharply. With a soft pop, he disappeared.

Twilight

Twilight was still trying to process the abundance of information Discord had just delivered them. His personal history, the concept of Gatekeepers, the whole dramatic bit of 'the fates of two world hanging in the balance'. It was too much to take in.

She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard Lucien yell. He had stood and paced right after the former-draconequus departed, seemingly trying to find a way to release his emotions. "Lucien..." she began, but found that she didn't know what to say. "I'm here," she ended up finishing. She'd learned the friendship lesson about just listening when a friend needed to vent a long time ago.

"I'm so... aargh!" he mimicked strangling something with his hands. "The whole reason why everything on Earth has gone to shit was right in front of me and I didn't even punch him in the face!" Lucien stopped pacing and hunched over, wringing his hands together.

Twilight blinked. "Is... that what you're most upset about?" she asked, trying to get him to vent more.

Lucien stood back up and looked over at Twilight. "Not even close! But it's all I can think about doing, now! I'm so mad that he just left like that when he knew what kind of responsibility he faced! Sure, it sounds like a lot, defending an entire planet from eldritch horrors and abominations, but you can't just shirk off your duties like that! Hell, defending the planet is what thousands of mages like me have been doing since that idiot left!" Lucien was breathing hard.

Twilight continued to listen. "And I want to be more mad! Which just makes me madder!"

That part confused her. "What do you mean? You sound pretty mad now." He wasn't as mad as he had gotten back when Bronze Gear had detonated her bomb and taken away their magic, but he was close.

"I mean that if he didn't leave then I wouldn't have ever turned out to be like this!" he said, holding up a hand and igniting it into a green flame. "I'm mad about the way Earth has become, but I love being me!" He extinguished his hand. "And now he's finally here to begin fixing all his mistakes, and become the turning point in humanity's war to exist, and I'm happy about it, in fact I'm ecstatic!" He walked back to the patio set and sat down again, hands reaching up to rub at his temples. "But... god. Things really went to shit while he was gone."

It seemed like he was done. "Lucien..." The man perked up at hearing Twilight speak, and he looked up to make eye contact with her. "It's okay to have conflicting feelings about this. You don't have to decide to feel one way or the other, you can have mixed feelings." He sighed, sitting back further in his chair. "I know that was a lot to take in, but give it time to process and we can talk about it later, alright? When you've sorted out how you feel more."

Lucien opened his mouth to speak, his face indicating that he had more to say on the matter. After a second, he sighed again, and stood up. "You're right," he said, a bitter note biting its way into his words. "I'm still mad, but I need to think about it more." He walked over to where Twilight was sitting and pulled her chair back. "Come on, let's just keep moving. We're not too far away from the next Labyrinth entrance."

Twilight frowned. She could still see in his eyes the raw emotion he was experiencing. But if he didn't want to talk about it anymore, then that was his decision and she would respect that. Still, she couldn't help but to place a hoof on his thigh, rubbing it gently.

Lucien looked down at her, surprised. She could swear she caught a hint of a blush on his cheeks before he placed a hand over her hoof and stroked it with his thumb, looking off into the distance. "We should go," he said, pulling off from her abruptly and walking off.

Twilight sighed, and followed.

Author's Notes:

4

Chapter 34: Necessities

Lucien

A hot sun hung overhead, directly in the middle of the sky. The heat buffeted Lucien and Twilight as they exited the Labyrinth, this time through a secret door in a statue that sat in the center of an open plaza. They had arrived at the University of South Carolina, Columbia. Lucien's eyes took a moment to adjust to the new surroundings, taking in the almost grayed-out plaza and surrounding nature, if you would even call it that. The area looked almost like it had suffered from a nuclear blast, or a raging fire. The trees were bare and the texture of charcoal, and the grass was like frozen ash, it still held its shape but seemed like it would collapse under the slightest breeze. The blue sky above contrasted starkly with the colorless area.

Lucien's eyes narrowed. He could still feel lingering energy in the area. He didn't know what caused the destruction, but he knew it was recent. Something or someone had taken the life out of the surrounding nature in a massive radius. You don't create that kind of power vacuum without leaving some kind of trace.

"What happened here?" Twilight's soft voice came from behind him. She was sitting at the edge of the laid-brick pathway they had emerged on, her hoof poking at a blade of the ashen grass. Lucien watched as the fragile substance crumbled beneath Twilight's light touch. She must be affected by this more than him, he supposed. Given ponies' natural affinity towards, well, nature, it would make sense if this was more damning in her eyes.

"Someone absorbed everything. And that someone has to still be around here. We're gonna have to be careful though, that sort of power has to be released again somehow, and the amount taken in might be more than I can contend with." It would be best if they just booked it out of the campus and found the next entrance in the city immediately, but if he were to be honest with himself, he needed to break something or someone. He was still hurting on the inside from their meeting with Discord, and holding rage back was unhealthy for a mage. Similarly, fighting angry is as well, but that had never stopped him in the past. Besides, nobody would use a massive life drain spell like that unless they had a good reason for it. It's also not every day that you meet someone that can handle that amount of energy in one go.

"Come on, Twilight, we're going to school." Nobody could say that a bad mood ever stopped him from making a bad joke.

"School?" she asked flatly. And just when he thought that she'd appreciate that joke. Even just a little bit.

"Whoever did this has to still be around, and we need to find them and shut them down." He wasn't lying, technically. Whoever or whatever did that must be a powerful force to be reckoned with, and a threat to anyone else in the area, should the release of the collected energy misfire. He felt a little bad misleading Twilight just so he could vent, but he needed it.

With a brief gesture, he beckoned Twilight to walk with him along the path towards a grand building a short ways away. The air was silent along the way, until a sharp crack! split the quiet, causing Lucien and Twilight to flinch. A cacophony of noise closely followed the initial sound, almost like the crack introduced it. It took only seconds for Lucien to place it in his mind. "Gunfire! It's coming from the big building, over there!" he pointed in the direction they were heading.

"Let's go!" Twilight galloped forward, taking the initiative.

The pair ran across the ashen landscape, covering the ground quickly. Even so, it still took several minutes to cross the area and reach the grand building that seemed to be the origin of the gunfire. Despite the bleak surroundings, the building was as vibrant and grandiose as the old structures of Greece, elegant pillars lining the entrance and shrouding the glass doors in shade.

Lucien made it first, shoulder-checking the doors open and ushering Twilight inside. The two were in a large open lobby, two staircases leading off to the left and right, and a desk sitting between two closed doors. The sounds of gunfire echoed in the empty building. "Come on!" Lucien banked left and charged up the stairs, Twilight close at his heels.

Hallways ran to the left and right, but directly ahead of them was a balcony with a broken stone banister. Lucien and Twilight ran up to it and stopped, looking forward. The building must have just been a check-in or front entrance to a larger facility, because there was a lounge area below them and great glass windows looking out on a large courtyard that the building wrapped around.

Taking a closer look out into the courtyard, Lucien could make out parts of several people, all in partial or full cover, shooting at each other. Judging by their positioning, it seemed as if it were going three ways at once. Two were paired up and pinned behind the large statue in the center of the area, three were taking turns firing from an open doorway and poking their heads up from behind the patio's sturdy bricks, and a single gunman was on the ground behind a planter between the two groups, making the entire shootout a triangle.

Lucien removed his backpack swiftly, dug around in it for a moment, then withdrew his handgun. He checked his ammunition, made sure a bullet was loaded, then looked at the floor below. This was unnecessary endangerment. He knew it and it bothered him. If it were just him like it normally was he wouldn't think twice before jumping into combat. But this time he had someone else to look out for.

His eyes drifted over to Twilight, standing beside him. He had expected to see some sort of apprehension or nervousness on her face, but he only saw his own determination reflected back at him. It was clear she had also made the connection that one of the people down there had been the perpetrator of the destruction that they had witnessed outside. She looked ready for a fight, despite the reasons for it being less than pure. She wouldn't like what he had to say next, but it needed to be said regardless.

"Twilight, I need you to stay here," he said quietly, anxiously playing with the safety on his pistol.

"No." Her reply was curt.

"This isn't our fight and I can't drag you into it without warning you beforehand that we have quite literally no idea what we're about to walk into." It was bad enough he was putting himself in danger with this idea; it would be even worse if Twilight came as well.

"I know. But one of them did that," she said, nodding her head back towards where they came from. "There needs to be some sort of justice." Her voice was stone cold, the glint of the sun in her eyes giving a hard appearance. It seems she had changed more than he initially had thought in her time on Earth.

"Alright. Promise me you'll stay back in the building and prioritize yourself with shielding, though, you can make do at long range. I don't need you getting hurt because of my own actions." He voice came out harsher than he had intended. He was itching for a fight, and he could feel it clouding over his better judgement like a storm blocks the sun.

"Fine. But keep in mind I'm not going to abandon you out there," she said simply.

"Let's go then."

He vaulted over the ledge.

Twilight

Things weren't looking good. Lucien and Twilight were pinned behind their improvised cover, taking fire from three different directions simultaneously. To their great misfortune, one of the parties, the solo individual, was a Hunter, and he had his magic-neutralizing jar with him. Looking back, it should've been obvious. Nobody but a mage would be in the wasteland that was the university campus, and the lack of spellcasting should've occurred to them immediately.

"This was probably a bad idea." Twilight's back was pressed up against the brick; she was hunched over and keeping her horn out of view. She turned her head to look at Lucien after he spoke.

"We just need to wait for an opportunity! They'll have to reload eventually! Or maybe they'll go back to focusing each other!" Unlikely. She was well aware of the situation they were stuck in, and didn't see an outcome that left the two of them not riddled with holes. While she wasn't overly familiar with the structure of a gunfight, Lucien had taken the time back in Equestria to give her a crash course in human firearms and how they function.

It wasn't long after that that the sounds of gunfire stopped. An eerie silence settled over the area; Twilight could hear only the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears. "Why did they stop?" she asked in a tense whisper.

"You wouldn't happen to be Lucien Chance, would you?" one of the voices, somewhere on her left, called out.

She felt Lucien stiffen beside her.

"Who wants to know?" he called out.

A quiet chuckle echoed across the courtyard. Several, actually. It seems that the man's friends found the response funny.

"Someone who used to look up to you." Crack! Another bullet crashed into their already bullet-riddled cover.

With that, the shootout resumed, neither side making any more moves or attempting to push any sort of advantage. It was an unsolvable stalemate. After several more seconds of sustained fire, all sound stopped once again.

Twilight looked over to Lucien. He face was marred by panic. Several beads of sweat gathered on his forehead and he swallowed hesitantly. "Who are you?" he called out.

Another moment of silence. The sound of a gun being reloaded rang out loudly. "A member of the Company."

Lucien paled.

"I wasn't--"

"You don't have to make excuses, we already know about everything. There's few out there that don't at this point," a new voice called out, this one from the right.

"You don't know anything about what hap--"

"We know everything that happened, you traitor!" a third voice pitched in, this one younger than the rest.

"Look, I've been gone for a while, I don't know what--"

"Stop talking! You've been gone for four years, of course we found your house! Your research! Your mistakes!" the first voice roared. "I don't know what plane you fucked off to in the meantime or where the hell you found that horse, but we learned about your betrayal! We've all been informed about who and what you are now, and you're not getting away from us again!"

"The Trireme Council has been spreading nothing but lies! Don't listen to anything those old idiots say!" Lucien called back, a note of anger seeping into his voice.

"The Trireme Council has been keeping the world safe! You've seen what's happened since you disappeared! Your actions invited more monsters onto the planet!"

"What?!" Lucien called out, angry and confused.

"Your basement!" the man continued viciously, "we saw everything in your basement. All that time on the frontlines fighting for humanity, all that for what! So you can summon a demon to Earth and destroy everything!"

Lucien's face was red with rage at this point. "You don't know anything except for the bullshit the Council and the Company has been feeding you! I was trying to save everyone!"

"Shut up, traitor!" called the second voice.

"You can't run from your mistakes any more!" chimed the third.

"You're dead here and now!" the first voice shouted out with a war cry. Twilight heard the sound of one of the men exiting his cover, then she flinched as Lucien quickly popped up and fired a single shot from his pistol. One second later heralded the sound of a dead man hitting the grass.

With that, the gunfight resumed once again. Bullets rained over their heads, some getting dangerously close to Lucien, who was still dangerously close to leaning back out over their cover. His teeth were gritted and squeezing out breath after hurried breath. Twilight had never seen anyone so angry before.

And it was in that moment that something happened. It was no more than a single instant, but Twilight was able to see it almost in slow motion.

It began with a misplaced sound in the encounter. The shattering of something made of ceramic. By the time she actually had processed what the sound meant the fight had ended.

As the ceramic shattered Twilight felt a sudden influx of power. Her magic had returned, suddenly and inexplicably. But Lucien's, it seemed, had returned faster.

The very moment the ceramic shattered, Lucien's hands erupted into violent green flame, nearly searing Twilight by proximity. It was unlikely that the shards of pottery had even hit the ground yet.

Lucien's palms touched the earth, and the earth headed his call. Twilight felt the intense burst of energy as it exited the man and transferred to the ground, the dirt and rock itself bending to his will.

It was at this point that the gunfire stopped and the earthquake began. A quick and violent shake accompanied by the sound of stone grinding together. A wordless, primal cry of rage echoed across the battlefield. Then silence.

Somewhere nearby, the shards of ceramic hit the ground.

Twilight, shaking furiously, lifted her head over their cover. What she saw became burned into her mind forever afterward.

Lucien stood before her, his back to her. He was hunched slightly, out of breath. She could feel the raw power and rage still dripping off him. Before him lie the decimated remains of those who had been shooting at them. Each one hung suspended several feet in the air, gaping holes ripped through their chests by the spires of earth that had impaled them so suddenly. Blood dripped slowly down each, and for a moment Twilight saw Lucien covered in it, the evidence of his grisly murder staining his appearance.

She barely suppressed the urge to vomit. This had to happen eventually, a part of her mind echoed softly. He told her about his world, and the kind of place it was. It was only by some miracle that she hadn't witnessed this sort of brutality first-hoof yet.

“Dude what the fuck man?!” Twilight's gaze snapped to the right as she heard another voice, one she didn't recognize.

"And you! Don't think I don't recognize you for who you are!" Twilight watched as Lucien rounded on the man, his bloodlust not fading in the slightest. "I caught a whiff of you and your magic when you first showed up in Equestria, and you just reek of Discord; someone I'm not on the best terms with right now!" He marched up to him and aggressively got into his face. "I'm not gonna pretend to know why you decided it would be a good idea to give a complete stranger a chaos-infused chunk of adamantium, not to mention why you were there that day anyway, but I do know one thing!" He leaned further, inches from the newcomer's face. "That was the day I met him. And if you have any connection to that pony at all, I suggest you hold still and make my job easy."

There was an eerie quiet after Lucien finished speaking, the only sound breaking it was Twilight's stifled gasps for air. The air was dead, no breeze to cool down the heated confrontation. Lucien's menacing stance was highlighted by the silhouettes of the men impaled on spears of earth just in the background.

“Look man, I ain’t that guy. I know him. I had beef with him. I dealt with it. That doesn’t mean you should be taking it out on me.”

It didn’t look like that was the answer Lucien was looking for though.

“I’m not ‘taking it out on you’, I’m trying to erase him and any trace of his actions in my life. So I’ll ask you now, what do you mean that you know him?”

“It’s… complicated, but ultimately irrelevant to what you’re after and what I’m needing to do here. Most likely anyway.”

Lucien took a moment to narrow his stare even further.

“Then what do you need to do here? Because I need to go, and I don’t want you in my way. You need to learn not to meddle in the affairs of others.”

“Well, I might end up in your way because there is something I have to do here that most likely requires me to follow you for who knows how long until I figure it out. Though just seeing you casually kill random people isn’t giving me the best vote of confidence in your state of mind right now.”

Who was this man that so suddenly intruded? He wasn't someone that Twilight recognized, though Twilight definitely did feel the chaotic swirl of magic around his person. Didn't he just see Lucien kill all those people? Why was he trying to egg him on?

“I’d call that a justification if I ever heard one,” Lucien said definitively as he reached a hand up and grasped his sword. In one swift movement, he drew it and slashed it towards the newcomer. In a flash, he teleported backward, evading the attack.

“I thought you were gonna make this easy!” he shouted as Balance morphed into Harmony, his chakrams. Not missing a beat, he hurled them through the air.

The man brought his hand up and formed a blue half-dome shield to intercept, but seemed surprised as they sheared right through it, causing him to duck them instead.

In a flash of blue, the weapons appeared back in his hands. They morphed back into Balance, then Chaos, the hammer. He charged at the man, readying a strike.

He simply motioned to the side and watched as Chaos went spiraling away. Since he still had a grip for a second he followed a bit with it, hitting the ground on his side.

“Not the best idea since I helped you make that sucker. You calming down yet?” He helped make Chaos? But Lucien was in Equestria when he forged his new weapons. How could this man have helped?

Lucien looked up with rage. He rolled to his feet quickly, fiery energy coalescing on his hands. After a moment, flaming green magic claws formed from in between the knuckles on his fist. In the blink of an eye, he lunged once again, claws thrusting towards the man's midsection.

The man simply teleported again. This time off to the left and behind him. After a moment, he turned invisible. Twilight activated her horn and looked again, the man's aura flaring brightly, giving off his presence.

Lucien looked around for a moment, his face twisted into a snarl of anger. After a few seconds of searching, he relaxed his pose slightly.

“Don’t think you’re gonna be able to hide from me,” he said. Almost immediately, he snapped his head to look directly at the aura Twilight was watching, despite his closed eyes. With a quick shout, he leapt at again, this time aiming for the man's head.

In response he started to back up. With a quick snap he formed a couple of illusionary copies of himself that charged from the sides. Lucien reformed Harmony and threw them in a tight circle around him, dealing with them effortlessly. In the short meantime, the man teleported away again to an even farther distance. With another snap, he formed a multitude of copies scattered all over the area.

“I still see you!” Lucien slammed his palm against the earth, cracking the ground around him. In an instant, all the clones were impaled by chunks of rock, just like those before. The man teleported again to an area already affected by the spires as it seemed to wash over the area like a wave breaking against the shoreline.

The magic claws over Lucien's fists faded out, and he ran over to one of the spires of rock. His foot lashed out against it, separating the earth cleanly at the base with a flash of energy. The now-separated earth lit up in a green flame. He made a throwing motion with his arms, and the chunk followed suit, rocketing at the stranger.

Again, he teleported out of the way; it seemed to be the only effective means of dodging at his disposal. This man didn't seem to be versed in mage to mage combat, unlike Lucien, who was handling himself with a deadly efficiency. A short distance away, the stranger snapped his fingers again.

In a strange response, all manner of creatures suddenly popped into existence around the courtyard. Strange, large-toothed red-and-white spotted plants, what appeared to be walking mushrooms and turtles, and all sorts of strange things in-between. They all had a cartoonish quality to them, like they didn't fit in with reality.

Lucien sighed, looking calmer for the first time. “Chaos magic is such bullshit,” he muttered.

“You’re goddamned right,” the stranger replied.

Twilight watched on as the summoned mob started to rush him, causing him to go into an impromptu gauntlet of hammers, mushrooms, and fireballs. He improvised platforms made of earth to jump and climb his way through the mess of creatures, but it was clear that it was gonna take him some time.

Twilight felt trapped. Memories of what had just occurred swirled in her head and left her sick to her stomach, but she couldn't let this man attack Lucien while she just sat by and watched. Even if he played mostly on the defensive and utilized strange methods that Lucien could clearly handle, she had to act before it got too late. If his magic was like Discord's then maybe--

A short cry of pain interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see the stranger teleport away once again. She noticed that Lucien's Balance had a new bloodstain on it.

Lucien charged him once again, his movement charged magically.

Another teleport away was the only response he received from the man, followed by an additional snap of his fingers. One wipe of chaos magic later and Lucien was suddenly surrounded by an absurd-looking horde of giant rabbits.

“Can you not?” was all Lucien had to say before switching into his hammer and going to town on them.

Just as Twilight had begun to formulate her plan to help Lucien defeat the stranger newcomer, something changed across the battlefield. The man's presence, which she had been tracking across every teleport, had suddenly vanished.

Lucien realized it immediately. His posture changed while fighting, his back and shoulders stiffening up suddenly. He finished off the rabbit he was hammering, then teleported away suddenly. He reappeared on a nearby roof, looking around the area. It didn't seem to make sense to him either. There was no sign of a large-scale spell, such as one to teleport a great distance, yet the man had vanished entirely. Lucien seemed to give up quickly, jumping back into the middle of what was left of the giant rabbit horde to finish them off.

"I think you’re the only one who can take care of him at this juncture."

Twilight jumped slightly at the sudden sound of the man's voice. Her heart leapt into her throat; it sounded like he was right in front of her. She charged up magic in her horn instinctively.

"Whatever he’s going through you’re the only one around with any hold on him I bet so I guess it’s up to you." She felt something touch her horn, a gentle prod. She felt a small spark of power enter her, foreign in nature until her magic assimilated it. "In case you need it."

"Who are you?" she asked the empty air. A moment of silence hung suspended, and she pushed a hoof out in front of her. It passed through slowly, encountering nothing. It bothered her to think that he was there so suddenly and gone just as quickly.

"It's time to go, Twilight."

Twilight yelped, spinning around and falling to her back. Lucien stood above her, a defeated and exhausted look on his face. All the rage and fury that had twisted his features before was now gone, leaving him with an empty expression and slouched posture. She, on the other hoof, still had her nerves on edge.

"Why?" she attempted to ask. Her vocal cords failed her, only a puff of strangled air escaping her throat.

Lucien seemed to understand the point regardless. He winced slightly, recognizing the fear and confusion in her posture. "I'll explain as we go. We just need to leave now. We're still in danger. None of them had the power of whatever destroyed everything outside, so it must still be around somewhere. Come on, I know the way to the next entrance."

Lucien

It was a slow walk to the next location. It wasn't even across the campus: just a few buildings away in the library's basement. But it was clear that their relationship would come to an end if he chose to not divulge any answers, and there was nothing in the world that meant more to him than their relationship.

So it was with little reluctance that Lucien began to explain. Everything. Everything from the collapse of the Company, which apparently had recovered since that time, to Charlotte's tragic disappearance, to his abrupt retreat to the forests of New York, and the research he conducted there.

He had always lived life close to death. There were times when death itself had come to visit, to take a friend or loved one, or maybe to come to try to claim him. There was one occasion where a brush with death became much, much more literal.

It had been during his later years working with the Company. He was a legend amongst the ranks by this point, known as the formidable fighter who tackles the front lines of their war for humanity all by himself. It was around this time that he was assigned a contract to hunt down an individual who was suspected of having ties not only to the Hunters, but also had forbidden knowledge of how to contact and invite monsters from the various planes they had been intruding from.

It didn't take Lucien long to find him. A rat-faced man with a hunched posture and nervous eyes. His time spent experimenting with the demons had changed him, their magic corrupting his mind and appearance until they were barely what they used to be before. He no longer looked anything like the picture of the smiling, pale-faced young man that Lucien had received with the contract to find him.

Dispatching of him took significantly less time than finding him. But he still had enough time to babble about the promises of the demons and the power they held. The man had a strange corruption to his magic, rendering it unreadable to the experienced mage; but he was still able to feel its raw power.

A quick tracing spell led Lucien back to his hideout, a smelly basement illuminated by a single flickering florescent light. It was there that Lucien made the acquaintance of death. For the first time in his life he felt himself dominated by a power incomprehensible to even his experienced mind. A strange compulsion overtook him to take his dagger to his throat and ram it straight through. Though whatever the compulsion was, it faded before he was able to puncture his flesh beyond half an inch.

It was then that Lucien knew the true feeling of despair and death, the way it loomed above him in that moment and he was helpless but to face it and try in vain to stop it.

He gathered the man's notes and books and took them away. Far, far away. A place that only he knew about, a place that he could be safe as he studied. However powerful the force was, it was still just a force. It was something he could overcome, something he could control. He knew as he gasped for breath and returned his dagger to its sheath in that bizarre and nearly fatal moment that whatever force that had compelled him held the power that would save humanity.

It was the strength that he had always searched for.

It wasn't long after that he retreated to his home in the forest. Tensions in the Company erupted after his suspicions of Charlotte's manipulative nature came to be proven true, and he left not long after, just like she had.

"That is what set this entire chain of events in motion. A brush with death that got far too close, and the end of a dear friendship. I left everything behind to study and discover anything I could about the source of the monsters that had intruded and laid waste to Earth. Everything to try to discover and control the power that would save the world, and return it back to its original state. That was all I ever wanted. To see everything back to normal again. No more monsters, no more danger, no more death. Just humanity as it was supposed to be.

"I'm sure you understand now why Discord's explanation left me so... enraged. To learn that the state this world has fallen to was the reaction to his action... It was a lot to take in. After having dedicated my life to the defense of my species, and then hear that not only was it caused by something so simple, but also fixed by a being with so much more power than me..."

A strange mixture of emotions filled Lucien, swirling and churning. But, at the center of it all, an intense burn kept everything in check. It was in this moment of confusion, anger, and sadness that he realized that the only thing that would push him beyond his breaking point was the one walking beside him. And just as he realized that she was the only one that could push him away, he also realized that she was the only one that could bring him back.

"We're here."

The tone of her voice caused him to wince, but he listened and turned his head forward. Together, they made their final exit from the darkness of the Labyrinth and emerged back into the forest where his journey had begun. Back in New York.

Author's Notes:

3

Chapter 35: Ungrounded

Lucien and Twilight moved through the brush at a steady pace, trudging past green trees with full branches. Neither paid heed to the early summer sun's shafts of golden light filtering through the thick canopy. It was hot outside, but neither were willing to spare the energy and brainpower to worry about the temperature. They were getting close to Lucien's house, and the end of their journey.

A glance was shared between them, momentarily. Twilight's filled with uncertainty, Lucien's with some indescribable emotion. Either way, conflict was buried deep beyond his tense expression.

As they passed by a pile of leaves and branches at the base of a tree, he was taken back to the day he ventured to Equestria. He had fought a frost giant, if he remembered correctly. He had been out to find a reagent for his summoning spell and encountered it by chance, leading to a wild chase through the forest. It all culminated at the base of a tree, where he had tricked it into charging him before dodging, causing it to run into the tree.

He let out a barely-audible sigh. While he was relieved that the world would be able to move on and finally extinguish beasts like that, he knew he would miss the thrill of the fight and the chase. For so long he had seen it as his responsibility to watch out for mankind and do his part to eliminate what others could not, it seemed almost like waking up from a dream to realize that all that would be over soon. It would take some adjusting to, guaranteed.

Twilight's ears perked up at Lucien's soft exhale, noticing the change in his pace of breath, but turned her head the other way, electing not to comment on it. Her eyes roamed aimlessly across the forest landscape, trying to find solace in the breathtaking nature that surrounded them. However, her endeavors were constantly interrupted by memories of their recent encounter. She had, of course, heard from Lucien about the accident that led him to Equestria initially, but his initial explanation back then seemed to make light of the situation, almost. He had seemed so nonchalant and carefree then, casually discussing summoning a demon in his basement.

But then again, he had elected not to share with her his reasoning, nor the specifics of exactly what he had tried to summon. And finding out from people who had attempted to end their lives? It made her start to question when else he had lied to her about his past. It was disconcerting at best. A total betrayal at worst.

And then there was that man. She had sensed the discordant energy about him as soon as he had engaged with the others. As much as she hadn't expected to encounter Discord on Earth, she definitely never thought to encounter another who shared his power. Not to mention that his knowledge of Lucien and herself was uncanny. Looking back on their brief discussion, she was amazed that Lucien didn't kill him on the spot after he had done away with all the rest.

The thought made her wince. Had his nonchalance towards death and combat rubbed off on her during their time together? A year ago she could hardly stomach the idea of the death of another, regardless of the life-or-death situations that she and her friends had repeatedly gotten into. Back in Equestria things seemed so much brighter. As beautiful and remarkable Earth and its society is, things were much darker here.

Twilight's instincts and thoughts were in turmoil still. She thought she could never see Lucien more furious than when they had spoken with Discord, but she was proven wrong not even hours later. The display of power and violence he had wrought onto the other men... it was like some primal part of him had lashed out in pure rage, a moment of precision and brutality. It went a long way to convince her of the dangers of humanity that he had warned her about so long ago.

She had never witnessed the death of another by Lucien's hand before that encounter as well, she realized. Those weren't just mindless beasts like the ones that had appeared in Equestria and fought in Newport, they were living, thinking, humans. A part of her innocence had died in that moment, maybe the last of it, and it wasn't ever going to come back.

Twilight looked back to Lucien. He had separated from her by a few steps, working his way through a few branches, a vacant expression on his face. By the way his gaze wandered she reasoned he must be reminiscing. After all, he had spent several years in this forest. By now he must be able to recognize his surroundings.

Their eyes met briefly as he looked towards her. Their contact held for a few moments, then broke off as Lucien went back to navigating the brush.

Twilight didn't know how to feel anymore. Her instincts were telling her to be afraid of him, but his eyes... she could see an the pain and remorse in them. Seeing that in who she could easily call her closest companion nearly broke her heart. The conflict wore at her psyche, destabilizing her emotions and creating a gnawing pit inside her stomach, one that threatened to swallow her from the inside out.

A branch cracked underneath her hoof. Birds chirped overhead. A gentle wind shook the branches of the trees, falling leaves whispering their descent. Lucien stumbled on a root, catching himself loudly on a tree's trunk.

Twilight looked over, alarmed and concerned in equal parts. Her ears stood straight up, a single hoof paused mid-step, as if it were trying to decide whether to move towards him or away from him.

He looked over at her, taking note of her posture and expression. His eyes fell and he let out a soft sigh. "I understand, Twilight."

Those three words cut into her deep, stirring her swirling emotions into the hot burn of guilt. "Lucien, I--"

"No, no, it's fine. I understand," he repeated more forcefully. "I know how you feel, perhaps more than you might realize." He looked to the trunk he had caught himself on and leaned against it harder, slowly sliding on it to sit on the soft earth. "I can see how you feel about me, after everything that just happened. It's been... well, crazy. And I don't have an excuse for how I've acted. I let my emotions get the better of me not once, but twice. It's inexcusable."

Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but once again found herself cut off.

"I've taken poor courses of action many times in my life, and it's alienated some of the people that I held dear. One of the reasons I moved out here in the first place stems from the idea that I can't have people close to me without either getting them hurt or scaring them away. I'm not trying to play the loner or the victim here, it's just how I've lived. I was friends with people that didn't constantly solve their problems with violence like I do, and it drove them away. So I drove myself away." His eyes rose to meet hers. She had relaxed her position and moved closer without him noticing. She now sat before him attentively, her expression an emotionless mask. His eyes drifted to the side and lost focus. "I understand that I've broken not just your trust in me but I've also shattered the image of who you thought I was. I'm sorry I had to put you through that.

"Once we get back in Equestria, I'll go away, I promise. I know that it won't fix what's happened, but--"

He was suddenly stopped as a foreign pressure laid itself across his lips. His eyes focused again and widened in slight surprise. Twilight had placed her hoof over his mouth, halting his words. He looked up to see her eyes were brimming with tears.

"I don't-- I don't want you to go away." She took a deep breath, her voice hitching slightly. Lucien's own eyes began to well up with moisture. "I know that I just saw a side of you that you didn't want me to see-- that I never wanted to see... But it's part of you regardless." Her voice gained strength as she found her confidence. She was fighting against her own subconscious will to be this close to him, but she would not allow herself to be ruled by her instincts. "Lucien... you're too important to me. And I'd be an idiot to let you leave my life." She smiled through her internal struggle, blinking away the tears. She focused on the feeling of his soft skin against the frog of her hoof and found that it helped to calm her down. Sensing the opportunity afforded to her by his hesitation, she retracted her hoof, then quickly leaned in and draped her forelegs over his shoulders, pulling him close into a hug, maneuvering her head to rest on his shoulder.

Her instincts warred inside her, screaming to get away. But she found them hushed as she felt his hands slowly place themselves on her back. After a short moment they shifted further, and she felt the fabric of his coat rustle along her fur. Slowly, his arms enveloped her and pulled her further into their embrace. She felt droplets of water on her side and quickly came to the realization that Lucien was crying. It only took her another moment to realize that she was too.

They held their embrace for what felt like hours, the quick beat of her heart quieting and calming down. She cried until she felt she could shed no more tears. Her shoulder dried up quickly, Lucien had recovered faster than she. Her tumultuous emotions had stilled, and the war inside had closed in their moment of catharsis. However, something else remained, fluttering around inside her chest.

She felt Lucien's grip loosen, and he pulled back slightly. Taking the hint, she leaned back as well.

They were in a slightly awkward position. By deciding to embrace the sitting human, he had slid down the base of the tree he had been leaning against and now they were almost horizontal on the ground. Only Lucien's upper back still laid against the wood, the way her hooves rested on his shoulders did nothing to help him stay upright either. Somewhere along the way Twilight had scooted forward so she was more or less sitting in his lap.

Their teary eyes met, their faces flushed from the output of emotion. Then, ever so slowly, Lucien leaned forward. Twilight, the fluttering feelings in her chest intensifying, matched his motions. Time slowed around them; the sounds of nature faded away. Only the two of them remained, in a world all their own. With the gentleness and compassion of a butterfly landing on a flower, their lips met in an intimate embrace.

Lucien shifted, pulling her closer once again. He deepened the kiss, prompting a slight hitch in Twilight's breath. She allowed herself to be taken in by his motion and outpouring of emotion. His hands closed along the curves of her back, scratching into her coat pleasantly, intensifying the sensation of their connection.

After a few moments of intimacy, the two felt the need to separate, leaning back to gaze into the others' eyes. Twilight looked into Lucien's green eyes and saw the intense compassion and protectiveness that underlied the clear love he felt for her. Lucien looked back into Twilight's magenta eyes and saw his own love reflected back at him, along with the indescribable relief that she had accepted him, despite knowing what he is capable of.

In that moment, the two cemented an unbreakable connection. Despite all the two had been through together and the terrifying experiences that each had to deal with in their own way, they knew in that moment that they had found a companion that would always be willing to stay by their side, regardless of the consequences.

Their lips met again in another embrace, their passion only heightened by the rays of the rising sun that bathed their intertwined forms in golden light. Nature fell into harmony with their emotion, their inner turmoils silenced temporarily; for as long as the two were together, there was nothing that could bother them. They had finally found each other, and that was enough.

It took a few minutes for the two of them to extract themselves from their position on the ground by the tree, but eventually they found their way up again, and continued to walk. The exit of the Labyrinth wasn't as close to Lucien's house as he remembered, and the area that they were passing through led him to believe that they still had a good half hour's hike through the woods or so before they reached his place. Luckily, with most of the tension between them having dissipated after their highly cathartic shared moment, it was likely the hike would be quite pleasant. It wasn't long before they were talking once again about their favorite topic: magic.

"I've seen you use all sorts of magic both here and in Equestria. There's no way you'll have me believe that you just made all that up on the fly!"

Lucien could tell there was no way talking around Twilight now. Judging by those flattened ears and deadpan stare, she had donned her '0% BULLSHIT' look. "Okay, okay," he conceded finally, breaking under her glare. "I really prefer to use simple manipulation spells when I fight, just easy things like moving and reshaping the earth, usually. But I will admit that any spells that I use that aren't just levitation tricks or conjurations are all real, documented spells that I had to memorize, sort of," he explained.

Twilight nodded once, but he could tell that she still wasn't satisfied. "I know how difficult it is to commit a spell to memory, and I'm willing to bet it's the same here on Earth. So how is it that you have such a huge library of spells to choose from? There's no way you could have memorized so many without help."

Lucien held up his hands in mock surrender. "Alright, alright, I'm explaining. I have a set of runes that acts as a sort of storage entirely for spells. It's a little bit of work to access, but it was worth having done to me." That was bad phrasing. Very bad phrasing. He mentally kicked himself for ending his sentence in that way. All he could do was cross his fingers and hope she didn't notice.

"I knew it! There was no way you could... wait, 'having done to me?"

"Nothing gets by that pony." He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Well, those memory runes had to go someplace I'd be able to access them quickly and efficiently." He stopped walking, suddenly, and Twilight stopped as well, her gaze not leaving Lucien's. "And the best place we've found is up here." He turned his head to the side and lifted up the hair behind his left ear. Hearing Twilight's gasp confirmed that she saw it.

"Oh my Celestia..."

Behind his left ear, going all the way from the top and circling down to the bottom of his lobe, were runes etched directly into his scalp. They were about half-an-inch long each, the color of soot, and had the appearance of being burned into his head. He shifted his hair back into place and stood up again.

"As I said, they were well worth the price of getting them. Before you ask, yes they heat up when I access stored spells; no it doesn't hurt, it just kinda tickles; no I can't estimate how many spells I have stored in them; I got them when I was in my twenties, and they were drawn in by an old friend of mine. The runes have been around for ages as a way of storing additional information in books that could only be accessed by mages, but some strapping young lad about a century or so ago had this crazy idea and theorized that they could be applied directly to the head of a magus to help with spell recollection," he summarized. "As I said though, it was worth it, and they're not nearly as bad as they look."

Twilight didn't say anything. Lucien kept his eyes ahead.

He heard the flapping of wings, then a gentle kiss met the side of his head. He turned to look at her, a bemused smile stuck on his face. "Ah, c'mere." He reached out an arm and tugged the alicorn to him, giving her a big hug. After a few moments, he gave her a peck on the top of her noggin, then set her down on the ground.

She folded her wings in, a blush present on her face. The two kept on walking in silence.

It wasn't too long after that when Lucien began to recognize some familiar landmarks in the forest around them. It was strange to see his forest so green, after all, the last time he had been here was in the dead of winter. Skipping directly over the first stirrings of spring, the melting of the snow, and the emergence of greenery was something that caught him off-guard, having spent nearly five years living out here. Although he easily concluded that getting to spend that time in Equestria and getting to participate in Winter Wrap-Up was well worth missing his own little "winter wrap-up".

"This is the place, I take it?" asked Twilight, breaking Lucien from his train of thought.

He looked up, breaking his gaze from the gorgeous green around them, to see that they had indeed arrived. His house was a small affair, a small, off-the-grid place made of wood and stone. One bedroom, one living room, one kitchen, one bathroom, and one finely dug-out basement laboratory/forge/magic practice area. A million different thoughts flashed through his head as the two looked on at the empty abode, some strange combination of nostalgia and regret. "Charlotte would've really liked it here," he thought, his eyes turning to look at Twilight.

"So are we going to go inside?" she asked quietly, smiling softly. Although, that smile faltered slightly as she caught the look on Lucien's face. "Is something wrong?"

Lucien rubbed at his eyes a bit, feeling tired all of a sudden. "You know," he began, opening his eyes again, "I think everything's alright." He offered her a genuine smile.

Twilight returned the sentiment readily. "Then let's go! I want to see where you worked!" With that, she bounded forward, crossing the remaining distance towards his past abode. They were approaching from the backside, where they could see nothing but the small rectangular windows placed high on the back wall looking in on his bathroom. Twilight ran around the side before Lucien caught up, prompting him to call out. "Hold on, Twilight! Let me catch up!"

Twilight's exasperated groan echoed from around the corner of the house. "Hurry up! I want to see your research!"

Lucien chuckled at the notes of impatience in her voice, taking him back to when he was young and eager to explore his mentor's books. He blinked. Wow, that made him sound really old.

It didn't take him much longer to catch up to her, but she had already gone inside. It seemed that the front door was left open, and scattered leaves trailed their way inside his old home. As he stepped to the front door and wiped off his shoes by habit at the "No Trolls Allowed" welcome mat, he noticed that the wood of the doorjamb was splintered, like the door had been knocked in. Well, the guys who shot at him earlier did say that they searched his house...

Walking inside, he noted that his meager furnishings were covered by a fine layer of dust. Further on in his house, he heard Twilight's hooves clopping along the tile flooring.

"Where's your lab?!" she called from probably in the kitchen.

"Come back to me and I'll show you where it is!" he responded, walking towards the sound of her voice.

Rounding the corner to his living room, he saw that his TV had been smashed, and fallen on the ground from where it once hung on the wall. Rude.

Twilight came around from his modest kitchen unit, looking excited. "So where do you keep your research?" she asked, a bright smile on her face.

"It's right down here," he said, gesturing to a door on the other side of the house, attached to the living room. The two of them walked over and Lucien grabbed the knob, pulling the heavy wooden construct open for her. "You should see most of my notes on the shelves on the right wall, by the desk. Just be careful, the people who came through here already probably stole most of it. Or just burned it. Ugh." He put a hand to his head and sighed.

"I'll be sure to take care of whatever's left!" Twilight said before blasting down the stairs faster than his cat running from water.

Oh. His cat. Bella.

Well, she probably ran away. Which is unfortunate, since he actually liked her. Despite the whole thing where she ruined his ritual and sent him spiraling away into another pastel-themed dimension where he met his unicorn partner (girlfriend?).

"Wow, you were right, everything's broken!" came Twilight's still-enthused voice from the basement.

"You don't have to sound so excited about it!" Lucien yelled down, holding back a smile.

A beat.

"Sorry!" Twilight responded.

Chuckling, Lucien walked around the corner of his living room and into his kitchen, surveying the damage. Dusty appliances, leftover plates, trash can not emptied. Jeez, they could've at least taken the trash out when they ransacked the place.

A blinking red light caught his attention. It was odd enough that he still had electricity running in the house, especially considering he wasn't around to feed magic to the generator, though he could believe that it was picking up on his presence now. The "Message Received" light on his phone's receiver was blinking. And judging by the LED display on said phone receiver he had indeed received several messages.

Very few individuals were given the number he used for this house's landline. It was for emergencies only.

Well, better take a listen.

"I was just listening to a few messages, Twilight, no need to yell at me from across the house for it," Lucien said, walking down the stairs into his basement.

"Sorry, sorry, I was just really excited to look over what's left down here."

As Lucien walked into the basement, he surveyed the somewhat depressing scene. The various experiments he had set up over the course of the months before his departure were in various states of disarray. Broken glass littered the ground, scattered among scorch marks and singed pages of notes he had compiled over the time he'd spent there.

"Well, what's going on?" he asked, a smile on his face despite the destruction around him.

"Not much," she replied, pushing some broken glass around with the edge of her hoof. "Things in here aren't in very good shape. I think I can guess at what you were doing based on what equipment was broken, but otherwise nothing made it through it seems. I guess potion-brewing was a hobby of yours before going to Equestria, huh?" she asked, a shy smile on her face.

"Yeah, I got really into it not long after moving here. There's a wealth of reagents out in the forest around here, including some stuff that I wasn't usually able to find elsewhere. Winters were especially nice, just much colder than I prefer, given that I grew up in a southern, warmer climate." A wistful smile crossed his face. "The weather right now is part of the reason why I like this area though. Spring is really nice around here, as I'm sure you saw."

"Yeah, it actually reminds me of Ponyville - of home." She looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Are you ready to face whatever it is we're going back to? After being around so long, I'm sure Ponyville and Equestria is just as much home to you as it is to me."

Lucien took a deep breath and let his gaze roam around the room. His lab, his forge, his home. His mentor told him a long time ago that sentimentality was the easiest way to get himself killed. That attachment breeds complacence. It was one of the points that Lucien had always disagreed with, vehemently. His home on Earth meant a lot to him, but the Earth itself meant more than any place he would live while on its surface. Sentimentality and attachment was what gave him his strength, and after spending a few months on Equestria he felt almost as attached to Ponyville and his friends there as he did with The Company, back before everything went so wrong. It's almost enough to make him feel better about what comes next.

"Yeah, I guess it is home, in a sense," Lucien said, smiling. "All we have left to do is set the circle over there up again and head out. Well, and one more thing," he said, a tinge of sadness working its way into his voice.

Twilight picked up on it, her ears turning and head swiveling to face him. "What do you mean, 'one more thing'?"

Well, this isn't gonna make her happy. "Right. Uh, so Sandcroft, the guy that we're fighting?"

Twilight nodded.

"His biggest strength in fighting us is that he's able to, relatively effortlessly, banish anyone and anything that isn't native to Equestria. See, we're all 'Grounded' in a sense to the world and—though I hate using this word—dimension that we come from. If what Discord says is true, then Sandcroft and any other Gatekeeper out there can use that connection and force you back to the world you're Grounded to." He paused, watching the wheels turn in Twilight's head. It didn't take long to see her face turn from confusion to understanding, and then further.

"So that's what you meant when you were talking about watching humanity move on from this. All the way back in at the cafe." Twilight's face flushed with anger. "You knew this would happen the whole time, and you didn't tell me!" Twilight's accusatory tone was tinged with hurt.

"I couldn't worry you any more. We still don't even know if we have a deadline to get back. I made the decision early on that if it came down to it, I would sacrifice my connection to Earth in order to make sure we can save Equestria. To become Ungrounded."

"I can't ask you to do that. I know now just how much this world means to you! It's everything you have! You know I watched your face while we were having lunch in that city; I could see just how much you adored being there! I'm not going to just let you throw away your path back home on Equestria's behalf!" Twilight stood resolute, her tone offering no room to disagree.

Lucien opted to reason things out further. "There's no other way, Twilight. I can only send the both of us back with this circle, and then Sandcroft could just toss us back to Earth as easily as he did the last time. Regardless of how well we could try to defend against him or stop him, he's also still a powerful magician."

"I... W-well, what about Aiden? Could you use his connection to Earth to reestablish yours? And travel back home?" Twilight asked, still upset but sounding a bit more resigned to his plan.

Unfortunately, he'd already considered that approach. "Aiden is... troubling. Best I understand is that he ran into some issues with Hunters, and fled to Equestria. Given his circumstances, I'm certain that he's severed his connection upon leaving, otherwise they could track him. Extraplanar movement definitely doesn't stop them."

"What about me? Should I have some sort of connection to Earth now, or-or an object? I know objects can hold traces of magical signatures, maybe you could key something to Earth and—"

"Twilight."

"I don't want you to lose your home out of some sense of duty to Equestria!" Twilight's voice rose.

"Twilight, you said it yourself. Equestria is home to me now too. And I'm gonna fight for it just like I've been fighting for Earth. Besides, I don't have to worry about here anymore, if Discord is to be trusted." He seemed repentant enough. "He's not my first choice of potential saviors of Earth, but he's definitely not my last either."

"You can't do this," she tried again, but her face betrayed a weakness in her resolve. Lucien wasn't going to budge on this.

"I'm doing it. For the sake of both of our worlds. Even if Discord is the one that caused Earth to become... like this, I still hold him accountable for his own actions. Besides, if my hunch is correct, I think that he might have a hand in that as well."

Twilight thought about it for a moment, her face still flush with anger. "What do you mean?" she asked after taking a few breaths.

"I noticed a while back, when I was looking through my journal. I, along with most mages, occasionally get glimpses of the future within my dreams. Some pretty significant events in my life were predicted there, and I sketched them out whenever I could. Back in Equestria I was looking through it and noticed a common theme in most of them." He knelt and took off his backpack, taking a moment to fish out his notebook. Flipping to the right group of pages, he turned the book around to Twilight. "There's always a spade. Sometimes in the forefront, sometimes hidden in plain sight, but there's always a spade."

"So? What does that mean?" she asks, looking over his rough sketches.

"That's Sandcroft's cutie mark. And it's the symbol that he used to show me where to find him once or twice. I guess it's his calling card or something." Lucien put a hand to his forehead. "Honestly if the situation weren't so serious I'd laugh at how bad of an idea it is to give yourself such an identifier."

The two were quiet after that. Twilight refused to meet Lucien's eyes, instead tracing them over the summoning circle that had started this adventure in the first place, so long ago. Lucien held his eyes on her. He had made up his mind on this solution days before, and he was unwilling to allow himself to be swayed. Sacrificing his connection to Earth was the only way he could contend with Sandcroft back in Equestria.

Twilight let out a shaky sigh. She finally turned away from the summoning circle to meet Lucien's unflinching gaze. "Alright. I don't like it, but alright. I understand your plan, and what you're feeling. I... would probably do the same thing if I were in your place."

Lucien nodded firmly. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was necessary. Earth is going to be fixed, and so is Equestria. We'll do it, together."

A soft smile graced Twilight's face. "I trust you. And we'll find a way to get you back to Earth, eventually. I'm not too familiar with extraplanar travel, but between the two of us I'm sure we can research a way."

"That's a promise." Lucien stuck out his fist for a bump.

Twilight stared at it for a moment, then looked up, smiling. In an instant she flung herself into his arms, giving him a peck on the cheek. "Pinkie promise."

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" Twilight asked Lucien.

He had some last-minute calls to make, some final arrangements with old friends that hadn't heard from him in a while. He figured they deserved closure as much as anybody else did. In addition to that, there was the problem of figuring out what in his home he wanted to bring to Equestria, operating under the assumption that this would be his last time on Earth. He packed up some of his old crafting projects, his athames, some of his magical odds and ends that he had collected over the years. Some held sentimental value, others didn't; he didn't expect any of them to see much use other than becoming either nice conversation pieces or some odd decorations. Although, to think of it, some of those were probably better off not seeing the light of day. In any case, at least he could situate everything in his backpack, given that he was pretty sure that it could hold all of his worldly possessions and then some.

Picking up his bag and making sure it was firmly strapped on his back, he stood up. "Yeah, I think that's everything. I'm still not entirely sure what my old mentor did to this bag when he gave it to me, but it's pretty impressive. Maybe we can pick the spells apart when we get back to Equestria?"

"Sounds like a fun project," Twilight said, brushing up against him. He offered a smile back, and softly set a hand on her withers.

The two turned to face the still-smudged summoning circle. He picked up all the components he needed for the spell and arranged them around specific points on the chalk on the ground, just as he had before.

He took a deep breath, one hand still on Twilight, and began to chant.

Author's Notes:

2

Interlude: Wrong Number

[The Tape Begins]

I have a lot to answer for. I know. I don't know how much has happened since I... left. But I'm sure that my disappearance turned out to be a lot more public than I originally intended it to be. Slipping off into the backwoods of New York was the only option I had, realistically speaking. Not to mention that all the times we had talked about it... Well, it wasn't hard for me to find the property. Out of the way. Quiet. You would've liked it.

You would've liked her, too. Twilight. She and I... we've been through a lot. I imagine you would've gotten along well with her. She's a natural with magic too, just like you, unlike me. The way she's grasped some of the stunts that I've pulled around her, it impressed me.

But I'm not calling to talk about new or old relationships. Actually, not the first one, but some of the second one, sorry.

I know that things between us didn't end... well. But I wanted to call you and give you the closure that we both deserve. I'm sick of blaming myself for everything The Company became in the end, and I'm sick of blaming you for what happened in Chicago and what you did. I understand, finally, what point you were driven to that caused you to do what you did.

I... I, uh... I reached a breaking point myself, not too long ago. It, uh, it wasn't pretty. Honestly, I'm amazed Twilight still--

Just hold on one minute!

Sorry, heh, she's really excited to finally look at my lab. I don't blame her, I'm amazed some of those experiments kept after all this time as well.

But, I'm getting off topic. I know how you felt, and maybe how you still feel. And... I miss you? I want to see you again, and I know that I might sound unsure about that, but that's because I totally am unsure about that. I said it earlier that I want closure, and I'm sure after all this time that you want it too. It's just... I don't know. Maybe it isn't worth it.

I just knew I had to call you, though. I know what comes next... and it's not pretty.

[Muffled sounds of speech are heard in the background.]

Yeah! I'll be there in a minute!

There isn't any time left, I'm afraid. I've, uh, run out of time, haha. God, I have so much more to say, but it's already too late. I need to go. And-- and I've known this the whole time, unfortunately, I knew I'd never see you again. It's just...

[A Sigh Distorts the Audio Momentarily]

--had to let you know that, when I came back. From as far away as the West Coast, too. I felt something, right away.

I felt you, Charlotte.

I'm sorry.

[The Tape Ends]

Finale: Fairy Tales

The funny thing about teleportation, specifically across planes of existence, is the interim. It can be difficult to tell just where, or when, one is while traveling; it's not entirely possible to understand that, according to top magical theorists. Some believe that the body is deconstructed at the first location and reconstructed at the second. Others believe that the first body is erased from existence and remade at the point of arrival, a sort of cosmic copy/paste if you will. The vast majority of magic users do what is perhaps the smartest thing: don't question it at all.

But isn't that the sort of thinking that stymies progression? That by not seeking knowledge advancements in society would grind to a complete halt? Possibly. But there are some things that, perhaps, we are not meant to understand. It's difficult for any one person to say when magic became known to the human race; those that are inclined to it understand only that it does exist, and it presumably did far in the past. There are some records of course, and it's widely accepted that the Egyptians had the first case of an organization for magicians.

I digress.

Nobody was sure why Earth came under siege from the various creatures seeking to destroy it; it became a regular occurrence for its inhabitants. There were some who decided it wasn't actually happening, as some are wont to do. That is to say, they chose to bury their heads in the sand and pretend everything was okay. There's an easy comfort in the status quo, and far be it from me to disagree with that.

There were others, of course, that had long since accepted the nature of the world that we'd found ourselves in. It took some time with me, as I had a bit of an unconventional mentor and thus an unconventional education in the arcane. By the point where I had reached my early teens I knew much of what was necessary to survive in the conditions the world had fallen to. It was during this time that I had several experiences that I now realize formulated my character.

Defending those without access to the power I had, and some that did, joining with others that shared my same fascination with magic, and meeting someone that had a burning passion for life. The things I did, who I met, and what I witnessed created the desire I have, do, and will always feel to see humanity grow and survive the mess that we've found ourselves in. Even so, it still felt like it would take decades for that point to be reached. Mages have longer lives than the more mundane citizens of Earth, their lifespan extended by the forces they to harness. By the time I had reached the end of my early adulthood I felt like I'd lived a thousand lifetimes. I was ready to live for a thousand more, and keep going until humanity's flame finally goes out.

But nobody lives forever.

Lucien didn't remember it feeling particularly chilly when he and Twilight had unexpectedly departed from Equestria, but he supposed that in a forest where the weather is unpredictable some odd temperatures were to be expected. That or the time dilation was really off and they were doomed before they even started.

He preferred to focus on the first option.

"Damn it." A voice to his right caught his attention, as well as a small showering of sparks. He turned his head to see Twilight was attempting to ignite her horn for some sort of spell, or perhaps just to check its status. Either option, it didn't seem to be working. With her face scrunched up in concentration, she would manage to get her horn to glow in the familiar shimmer that Equestria's magical field produced, only for it to spark and sputter out after a moment or so.

Lucien held up a hand and, with a modicum of effort, encased it in his signature green glow. It seemed that the human method of channeling magic never failed to be adaptable above all else.

"How'd you get it to work so quickly?" questioned Twilight, sitting in the same spot as before and pouting slightly.

Lucien stood from the single knee he'd been holding since going through the teleport and walked over to Twilight. He put a hand on her head and ruffled her mane a little bit. "I'll teach you about the human method sometime after all this is done. After all, I'll be here for a while it seems." There was a little bit of melancholy in that last sentence, but it wasn't something he hadn't made peace with yet.

Twilight's face, first alight with the possibility of learning new knowledge about magic, fell as he had continued speaking. "Hey... if you don't want to follow through with this still, I'm sure we can find some sort of way--"

"I told you, Twilight, I'm fine. I'm here for you now, after all," he said, looking down at her with a smile. It went without saying that there was no way back regardless of either of them second-guessing things.

That seemed to do the trick. She brightened a bit at his statement, a bare hint of a blush present on her cheeks. "Well... maybe we should get to it then?" She stood up and took a look around. "Looks like we're back where you first came into Equestria, in the Everfree Forest."

Lucien was busy staring at the still-regrowing trees that he had smashed earlier in the year when he had fought with Luna and Celestia. Such a difference fighting for your life on a daily basis makes when it comes to combat. "Yeah." Hopefully the pony princess pair had taken his advice on getting some combat training once again. Luna certainly seemed eager to fight when he had visited them whenever Twilight and her friends had gone on some world-saving journey.

"Well? Let's go! We still need to find out if everyone is alright!" Twilight took to the air and began flying in the direction of Ponyville.

"Be careful! We don't know if there's more monsters around since Sandcroft's been in charge!" Lucien turned to see Twilight hovering above the treetops, waiting for him.

"Then come on! I'm sure we can handle anything together!" Twilight said with a confident smile.

"She's changed," Lucien thought with a smile and a shake of his head.

"Fluttershy's cottage..."

"Yeah."

"It looks..."

"Yeah."

"Normal?"

It did look normal. A few animals roamed around outside, flowers were still blooming, the midday sun was shining down just like a normal day on the outskirts of Ponyville. There was the noticeable absence of the butter-colored pegasus, but aside from that everything looked just fine.

"Fingers crossed that our friends took care of everything while we were gone?" Lucien turned to continue walking towards town, crossing his fingers.

"Fingers... Crossed." Twilight looked down at her hoof for a moment, somewhat perplexed, before shaking it off and flying after Lucien.

Fluttershy's cottage wasn't far from Ponyville. The outskirts of Ponyville, at least. Lucien considered recommending they stop by his house before trying to head into town but couldn't think of much of a reason why. It wasn't like he kept much of anything there given that he literally lives out of his backpack.

From the distance away that they were, Ponyville looked about the same kind of normal that Fluttershy's home did. It was the middle of the afternoon and there were barely any noticeable ponies wandering around outside. The ones that they were able to spot from a distance, however...

"They don't look scared, but... Uneasy?" Lucien remarked to his companion.

"Normally Ponyville ponies greet each other and interact while walking through town. This isn't normal at all." Twilight frowned. Maybe we should just try to talk to someone and see what happened. With any luck, we're not too late to stop Sandcroft from..." Twilight looked at Lucien. "I don't know if it's such a good idea. They might be looking for us."

Lucien thought for a moment. "Maybe. He seems like the type to prepare for everything, but I don't know if he expected us to be back so soon. If we are back so soon, that is."

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Well, they'd expect us to try to get to your castle."

"Or your house. Or any of the others' houses, probably."

"So Ponyville's out."

"So is Canterlot; I doubt that it's safe at the moment judging by what Discord's told us."

"We don't have friends in Manehattan, Las Pegasus, or Cloudsdale that we can trust. I know a place we could stay in Dodge Junction, but it's kinda out in the middle of nowhere.

"So the Crystal Empire then. It's the most likely place our friends would go in an emergency."

"Doubly so since the threat is a lot of monsters and maybe things like animated armor or golems. Neither does very well in blizzard conditions."

"What do you think happened to Aiden?"

"Either he's still at his house in the Everfree or he made it out like the rest of them. Assuming they made it out, that is."

"We should check to make sure."

"Agreed."

"Is there anything you need from your house?"

"Nothing that I don't already have in my backpack. Is there anything you need in your castle?"

"The only thing I would need is Spike, but I'm sure he made his way to the Crystal Empire as soon as he realized what was happening. It was an ordinary code 31 for us."

"Code... 31?"

"Code 31. It's for when a giant monster (or giant monster equivalent) appears and I'm not in the same city as Spike, in which case we're to meet up in the Crystal Empire to rendezvous with my brother and Cadence. It's similar to a code 4, which is the same thing except we meet in Canterlot and rendezvous with the Princesses."

"What if the monster is in the Crystal Empire like that Sombrero guy you told me about?"

"That's a code 3, in which a giant monster (or giant monster equivalent) appears and I'm near enough to get to Spike within 2 minutes, in which case he's to get me as soon as possible and we can deal with it together."

"...Huh."

"We're very prepared for villain or monster attacks."

"No, look at that."

"What?"

Lucien pointed over to an empty patch of land in the middle of the forest.

"It's just an empty patch of land in the middle of the forest, why?"

Lucien swatted the back of Twilight's head. "Don't be a smartass, you know why."

Twilight wore her smirk with pride. "Yes, I know that I managed to distract you the whole time we were walking over here by explaining how organized Spike and I are, and I know that Aiden's home is very conspicuously missing from where it used to be."

"Was that so hard?"

"No. But it was funny." Twilight walked out from the bushes they were hiding in and lit her horn, sweeping it around the area. Lucien, hesitating a moment, his eyes watching her saunter into the clearing, joined her. His hands were enveloped in a green glow to match Twilight's purple and the two concentrated for a moment, looking around.

"It's not like he was never here..."

"It's like everything just picked itself up and left."

"Starswirl's Moving Furniture?"

"Yen Sid's Animated Objects?"

They looked at each other for a beat.

"Who's Yen Sid?"

Lucien extinguished his hands and crossed his arms, placing a finger on his chin. He closed his eyes. "A great and powerful ancient sorcerer who taught magic to the great ruler of the happiest kingdom on Earth: The House of Mouse."

Twilight thought for a moment, her eyes looking back in forth in the air as if she were trying to sort something out. "Yen Sid... D, I, S..." Her face fell flat and she focused back in on Lucien, the man pointedly trying to ignore the fact that he was being glared at. "Another Disney joke, huh?"

Lucien shrugged, breaking his pose. "Just because it was a cartoon doesn't mean his impact on magic and spell creation was any lesser."

Twilight opened her mouth to retort, but closed it after a moment. "That's... actually pretty true here too. There's a lot of times that ponies imagined a spell in something fictional only for a talented unicorn to eventually make it into a real spell."

"Told you so," Lucien said, walking over and leaning down to give Twilight a peck on the cheek.

Twilight blushed. "I... suppose that Aiden packed up and left, then?"

"Looks like it. I'm not getting much of a trail, since the Everfree is all..." Lucien made a weird wavy motion with his hands, "and stuff. But it looks like it went north."

"That's what I'm seeing too."

"So I guess we go north as well and hope for the best?"

"Sounds like it. The train is a potential option, but I don't think it's very likely to be unsupervised at this point. Should we take a look anyway?"

"I'd rather not get that close to Ponyville, and there's no line of sight from the treeline so we'd have to be out where a pegasus could spot us."

"There's always cloaking spells."

"Yes, but I'm bad at those, and you don't know any that'll get across a mostly open field, last I heard of."

"True. And there's no way of knowing if something else could spot us that might see through the invisibility."

Lucien put his palm on the ground, concentrating for a moment. His hand flashed green after a second or two, and then slowly, with the sound of stone grinding on stone, the ground itself rose to form a small topographical map of Equestria.

Twilight sat back and clapped her hooves together a few times. "That was neat."

"Nah, just a spell to recall a map that I've seen before and map it to the ground."

"Good magicians never reveal their tricks, Lucien."

"You and I both know that you would want to know how that worked if it were anything else."

"This is true. However, sometimes I like figuring things out for myself."

The two smiled at each other for a moment.

"Okay, so I'm thinking we take a patch heading west, then north through the forest around your castle."

"Uh huh."

"Cloudsdale is south of us right now, so if we move fast we can cross the plains there without passing directly under the city."

"Right."

"We can take the train tracks heading into the Crystal Mountains in order to pass through fast and easy."

"And we won't have to worry about the train, because if the Crystal Empire is still safe no trains will be running to it while the rest of Equestria is occupied with the Engineers."

"Exactly." Lucien stood from his single knee, and with a motion from his hand the earth sank back to its previous position. "So it looks like we're still gonna be doing some hiking, Twilight."

"Think you can do that stone surfing spell again like back on Earth? I'd love to see it a second time and see if I can figure it out."

"I think maybe I'll just let you learn it like I did."

"You don't mean-"

"I do."

"Textbooks," both said simultaneously, Twilight with an excited tone and Lucien with a serious one.

The trip north was a fast one. Lucien thought they had covered ground quickly before, when they were just traveling across Earth by the Labyrinth, but having train tracks leading directly to their destination made things much easier. Twilight's earlier hypothesis proved to be correct as well, as they encountered no trains during their travel. Lucien conjured a simple device to propel them along the rails for the rest of the afternoon, letting them relax as they made their way to the colder northern part of Equestria. Twilight spent most, if not all, of the time laying down on the contraption and reading one of several textbooks Lucien kept in his backpack.

When asked why he kept texts on magic in his bag, Lucien could only shrug. "It's convenient, I guess. I keep pretty much anything important in that backpack. I'm on the move a lot, so there's no sense in leaving it somewhere when I'm halfway across the world from it."

After a short time of rail-riding, the fair rolling hills began to turn to snow and ice. Lucien pulled from his backpack a jacket for him and a scarf for Twilight, along with snow goggles for both. They tensed as their vision faded passing into the tunnel connecting the Crystal Empire to the rest of Equestria. What they saw after passing through to the other side didn't shock them so much as it relieved them.

The Crystal Empire was bustling. The train station far ahead had several trains parked, and hundreds of tents and other small shelters were densely packed in the entire area. Ponies were roaming around throughout it all, and the atmosphere, despite the sky being clear and the air being warm, wasn't quite happy. Refugee camps can never quite fit the description of happy, but it was certainly the most cheerful one Lucien had seen.

Twilight and Lucien pulled off their goggles and warm clothing. As the device Lucien had conjured rolled them to the station the first few shouts of "Princess Twilight!" echoed out through the crowds of ponies that had noticed their entrance. Twilight did her best to put on a smile, but there was still a twinge of nervousness behind her features. It seemed she wouldn't be at ease until--

"Twilight!" a familiar voice rang out.

Before either of them could react, the rainbow blur formally known as Rainbow Dash impacted Twilight and sent her to the ground. "I knew you'd make it back! Are you alright, where did you go, what happened while you were gone, did you get hurt--"

"Rainbow! I'm fine, you sound like Pinkie right now," Twilight tackle-hugged Rainbow Dash right back, swapping their positions so Twilight was on top. "We're both fine. I just want to know what's happened here." Twilight pulled out of their embrace and swept a hoof around towards the tent city.

"Oh yeah! I gotta take you guys back to the castle, everyone's gonna want to talk to you and you need to be caught up on what happened. I'm just glad I was flying around when you guys came in on..." Her voice trailed off as she looked to the device Lucien was trying to disassemble piece-by-piece.

After a moment or two of fiddling, he kicked the whole thing and forced it to disappear. "Sorry, if I don't start with the more complicated parts of it first then dissipating it just ends up giving me a headache. Let's get going." He walked over and tussled Rainbow's hair before lifting her and Twilight under each of his arms and walking off.

"Hey!"

"Lucien!"

Rainbow immediately wiggled out and began hovering next to the pair. "Don't just pick me up like that!" Lucien could swear that he saw a hint of a blush behind that angry expression though.

Twilight was another story however, her blush much more pronounced and smile wider. "Lucien, you're embarrassing meeee," she whined.

"Oh hush," Lucien responded, swiftly giving her a kiss by the base of her horn, only causing her blush to deepen.

This, of course, was all done directly in front of Rainbow Dash. A fact which Twilight became keenly aware of about 5 seconds later. Looking over in realization, she noted that there wasn't an expression of surprise, but rather one of knowing.

Catching Twilight's eye, Rainbow winked at her. "Thought I'd be surprised? I betcha think I was going to be."

Twilight looked to the side. "Well, we weren't gone very long so it has to at least seem a little sudden..."

"Nah, we were pretty much just waiting for it to happen. Pinkie and I were actually thinking about taking bets from everypony that knows you two."

Twilight's face flushed a clean pink and she buried her face in her hooves. "Was it that obvious?" she groaned.

"Well... Nah not really. But come on, you're both giant eggheads for magic, you hang around him all the time, and you have a ton in common. Just felt like it was gonna happen at some point, y'know? Actually, Pinks and I were also placing bets on whether Lucien would be into ponies or not, too."

Hearing his name, the human turned his head to look at Rainbow. "Actually I'm more attracted to personalities than anything, but I've seen and done a lot of things back on Earth, if you know what I mean," he said, bouncing his brows a few times.

Twilight's face was red as could be at this point, and she smacked his thigh with a hoof. "Lucien! We don't need to hear about that!"

Rainbow, on the other hoof, just smiled and nodded, almost knowingly. "Ah yeah, I think I get what you're saying then. So all that time you spent staring at my flank wasn't actually to just get a better look at my cutie mark, huh?" To illustrate her point, Rainbow turned a bit in the air and stuck out her rump, giving Lucien an unobstructed view of her flanks.

This time it was Lucien's turn to blush. "Don't let my curiosity go to your head Dash, it might get so big it'll pop."

"Yeah yeah, keep trying to blame it on me, you know you like what you see," Rainbow accompanied this with a little wiggle before darting forward into the castle. "Come on!" she called back after passing through the entrance.

"I'm gonna put you down now," Lucien said somewhat absently, his eyes focused somewhere in the distance. Twilight was released from his grasp a moment later, and she took a few steps in front of him to regain her balance.

"Hey," she began, turning her head to ensure she had his attention. "These are the only flanks you need to pay attention to," her voice was a little sultry, but the effect was ruined by the massive blush still lighting her face.

Lucien shook his head a little and focused in on her eyes. "Right you are, my little pony!" he said, giving her ass a healthy slap as he passed her by.

Twilight eeped! and flinched as he went by, and a hoof went to rub at her rump. "Hey! That hurt!" Her smile and red face betrayed her actual feelings as she galloped after him.

"That's... certainly a lot to take in." Princess Celestia sipped her tea, an expression of mild surprise written across her features.

To be fair, they had taken it all quite nicely. About two weeks had passed in Equestria during Lucien and Twilight's three-ish days on Earth, making their return somewhat timely. The three-ish days, as the pair had retold them, were densely packed with action, suspense, and romance (Lucien added the last one, much to Twilight's embarrassment, after Rainbow spilled the beans about he and Twilight.)

"So what's happened here? It looks like half of Equestria is at the Crystal Empire now!" Twilight directed her exclamation at Cadence and Shining Armor, both of whom looked slightly worse for the wear, no doubt an effect of hosting so many ponies on their land.

"It was all we could do to evacuate as many ponies as possible before the Engineers laid siege to Canterlot with their airship," Celestia began explaining.

"Normally such a paltry device would be crushed underhoof not unlike a porcelain figurine, but..." Luna continued then trailed off.

"An anonymous tip delivered by one of the ship's crew members allowed us to analyze their plans and their weaponry. Unless we managed an incredible preemptive strike and disabled some of their systems, the fight was going to be bad."

"Very bad, apparently. Sister and I were also not keen on losing our magic once again in the face of impending peril. A tactical retreat and evacuation was the only decision we could make given two of our most valuable assets had disappeared in Canterlot."

Lucien put his hands together under his head. "Aww, she said I'm a valuable ass!" Rainbow Dash snickered at his words, then busted out into full laughter when Luna used her magic to slam his head into the table.

Lucien held up a middle finger and, his voice muffled by the table, responded, "Anytime you wanna fight I'm game, moon horse."

Taking a moment to steady her rattling teacup with magic, Twilight took the lead in the conversation. "So is their ship still anchored in Canterlot?"

Shaking her head, Celestia replied. "No. Our few contacts still inside the city report that the airship is stationed at Manehattan now. Canterlot is being controlled by one of the Engineers, Ironwing, and a small army of various nightmarish creatures from Earth. Manehattan is still being contested by the ponies living there. It's a big city, after all. I've had some of our remaining forces diverted there, but with the rail systems down..."

"Can't defend a city at a moment's notice if you can't get troops there in a moment," Lucien mused.

"What about other locations in Equestria? And Ponyville?" Twilight continued her questioning.

"Ponyville was the first to come under their control, right after Canterlot, of course. We'd evacuated a majority of the population, given their proximity to Canterlot, but some families chose to stay. Other locations in Equestria are secure for the moment as well, from what we can gather. Las Pegasus, Cloudsdale, and Baltimare have all been under siege from monster attacks, but it seems those are just more of a nuisance than anything. Our inside mare with the Engineers informed us that their plan seems to be to move across Equestria one city at a time."

"However, we have found a moment of opportunity," Luna interrupted.

"Indeed. Their airship's station is in Cloudsdale, which, as of now, is en route towards Manehattan. Apparently it requires special equipment for maintenance and refueling, during which time it is stationary and most systems are disabled. Cloudsdale will arrive in roughly three days from now, and the Engineers are plotting to finish the fighting in Manehatten before then by detonating another anti-magic bomb."

"Another? They have multiple now?" asked Twilight.

"Not quite," answered Luna. "From what we were able to gather based on what has been leaked to us, there is only a singular bomb, however it can be detonated multiple times with a long resting period between detonations. Its most recent detonation was about twelve days ago, when Canterlot was attacked. Apparently they had yet to realize there was nopony home, for the most part."

"So the plan is to go and try to help Manehattan before the bomb goes off? Or is it wait for the fighting to end and go raid the ship while it's refueling?" Lucien asked.

"Neither," replied Celestia.

"Our insider works on maintaining and recharging the bomb apparently, and is planning on sabotaging the device to either render it useless or increase the amount of time until it is usable again by a day or two," Luna explained.

"So the plan is to hope your insider does her job so the bomb is out while the ship is out?" Lucien summarized flatly.

Celestia, reading his expression, held up a hoof. "If we were not certain of the reliability and trustworthiness of this inside mare, we would not even entertain the idea of following through with this plan. All the information, plans, diagrams, and blueprints she has sent us so far have been 100% accurate. I am finding it difficult to find reasons to doubt her at this point, given how much she has done to keep us informed. The only thing that we would have to worry about is her being found out."

"...Do you know who it is?" Lucien asked after taking a few moments to think.

"We are not sure," answered Luna. "However, we do have reason to suspect it is none other than Bronze Gear herself, based on her intimate knowledge of the devices and her access to the plans of the Engineers."

"She did seem... upset the last I talked to her. Maybe she decided whatever the heck Sandcroft had been promising her wasn't really worth it anymore. Either way, it sounds like it couldn't be anyone but her, with what you've gotten so far."

"So all that's left until the fight begins is rallying the ponies here and preparing those who are able for a fight. Training for combat against those monsters, however, has been a challenge. We don't suppose you could help us out with that now that you've returned, Lucien?" Luna asked.

"I've got just the thing to help," Lucien responded, taking a moment to withdraw his notebook from his backpack. "I've only got one of these, so be careful with it, but feel free to read through and copy whatever information you'd like." The notebook glowed a faint blue as Luna took it with her magic, the pages flipping quickly and her eyes scanning for information.

The book closed with a quick snap. "Thank you Lucien, this should be most helpful." Luna stood and excused herself, exiting the room.

"Twilight, we could really use your help managing all the ponies here, if you could," said Cadence, rubbing at her eyes.

"There's nopony as good as organizing after all," Shining chimed in.

"Of course!" Twilight stood to join Cadence and Shining as they left the room, taking a moment to say her goodbyes to Lucien and Celestia.

A silence filled the room once they left, leaving only Lucien and Celestia sitting.

"I trust you're aware of what happened to Discord?" Lucien started, taking a sip of his previously-untouched tea. He grimaced as the lukewarm liquid hit his tongue and immediately put the cup back down.

"Yes, Discord confessed to us what he believes happened when he first came to Equestria, and departed to Earth during the evacuation." Her features softened and her gaze drifted. "I do hope to see him again at some point. As much as I hold disdain for his actions centuries ago, I did come to enjoy his company at the castle every once in a while. I doubt he'd be so eager to leave Fluttershy behind as well..."

"And what's happened to Aiden? I promised myself I'd look after him, even if I don't know him all that well."

"He's here, of course. Some of the research that he brought from Earth on monsters has been useful to us. He's been helping Luna train the army, but I'm afraid he doesn't seem to have much combat experience."

"No, I don't think he does. So what about--"

"Twilight's parents are here as well, and undoubtedly going to catch Twilight as she's helping Cadence and Shining."

"Ah. Good."

A moment passed.

"Soooo--"

"I approve."

"What?"

"I approve," Celestia repeated.

"Of... what? And stop reading my mind." Lucien was confused.

"I don't think I really have to spell it out for you. It was written all over your face as soon as you asked about her parents," Celestia said, hiding a snicker with a hoof.

Lucien, instead of firing back with something witty, opted for a genuine smile. "That means a lot to hear you say that. I know just how important she is to you, and how important your relationship is to her."

"Also if I didn't approve I could just bring the sun down on you."

Lucien smiled, but there was a challenge in his eyes. "Looking to go for round two, old-timer? I beat you and your sisters asses into the ground last time."

Celestia smiled mysteriously and took another sip of her tea. "I think you'd find that when I really apply myself I'm much stronger than you'd anticipate."

Lucien could feel some of the power behind that smile, and it was considerable. "Well, schedule me for a one-on-one after we bring that ship down, then. Just don't chicken out and bring the Elements this time." Lucien stood as he said this, beginning to turn towards the door.

"Wait just a moment, Lucien." He heard Celestia's chair move across the floor as she rose. "There's one more thing I'd like to discuss before you leave."

"Yeah?" he said, turning back around and motioning for her to continue.

"I need you to help me with regards to properly dealing with Sandcroft."

The next five days were spent hour-by-hour for Lucien and Twilight. Both had rotating responsibilities helping around the Empire, either helping to sustain the overpopulation caused by refugees from other parts of Equestria or helping with preparations for the final fight. The militia and military had to be trained to fight all possible manner of threats, both from Equestria and Earth, and Lucien was the best equipped to help. Twilight was conscripted to help with the logistics of Equestria's forces versus the Engineer's as well as figuring out the best way to board the vessel. There was also the problem of helping cities like Manehattan rebuild whatever was damaged in the attacks.

Needless to say, Lucien and Twilight didn't see each other for a while. It wasn't until the final day before Equestria's retaliation that they managed to secure some time together to talk.

"You look..."

"Exhausted?" Twilight chuckled. "I know. I wear it with pride though."

"Well you do look proud at least. Have things been going well enough on your end, then?"

"For the most part," Twilight replied, sipping at a cup of coffee. "Everypony's been settled in at the tent city outside the Empire's walls. Of course, if everything goes well tomorrow then they'll just start moving back..." Twilight gently set down her cup, then let her head fall to the table. "I feel like all that organizing is just gonna go to waste."

"Well it's a good thing you like organizing, right? Even if things are gonna get all messy right away." Lucien reached over and rubbed her head.

"Yeah, but still. It doesn't feel like the most important thing at the moment. As much as I try to put the good of the citizens of Equestria first, what point is there in setting them all up here if they're going to be moving back right away?"

"You also set up a schedule to get them all moved back, right?"

"Yes, and that was what took the most time!"

"Then it sounds like it's not a waste at all then, right?"

Twilight sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Yeah, you're right." She pulled back and sat up straight to look at him. "How have things gone on your end?"

Lucien held up a hand and tilted it a few times. "Eh. I'm no drill sergeant. Luna was born for that, though. You should have seen her once I picked out exactly what we'll be likely to face. I'm glad that I got over the initial stereotype of ponies being soft and happy all the time because holy shit that woman is scary."

Twilight giggled into a hoof. "I've heard the stories." After a few moments of silence, Twilight's face fell neutral again. "Do you think everypony's ready?" she asked softly.

Lucien's face turned to concern. "Everything's going to be fine. They're about as ready as they can be, and they already have some serious advantages over humans fighting the same things. If we could handle it on Earth, where magic takes ten times more effort to channel, then they'll manage here on Equis where it's so saturated."

"...Ponies are going to die, aren't they?" Twilight said, her tone neutral.

Lucien sighed and reached over to take her hoof. "Yeah. These aren't going to be run-of-the-mill pushovers like what showed up in Ponyville a while back. You saw the Wyverns in Cloudsdale. They're going to be vicious and hit hard. We're just gonna hit harder. There's a whole lot more on the line this time."

"Yeah..." Twilight put her other hoof over Lucien's hand. "Just... be safe, alright?"

Lucien grinned. "I'll be right next to you the whole time."

The morning of their assault was bright and cheery, as most days are in Equestria. Or, at least, it became bright and cheery once the sun actually rose. If they were going to strike at an opportune moment they would have to depart from the Empire early, and so early it was. One of the trains stationed at the Empire's station was fired back up and departed with 75 of Equestria's finest ready to do battle. The ride to Manehatten takes 8 hours, and there was the problem of actually getting to Cloudsdale after arriving. Given the lack of contact to the flying city, there was no way they could get enough pegasi to float it to the ground, so they would have to use unicorn power to improvise. Most of the strike force had airborne capabilities, and the remainder had enchants to walk on clouds, including Lucien.

He and Twilight were able to catch a bit more sleep while riding to their destination, the former much more than the latter. Twilight's mind was alight with what Lucien had deemed pre-battle jitters, but he was fairly certain it was also her normal worrying and anxiety.

"How are you even able to sleep at a time like this?" she asked him after he'd gotten up for lunch.

Lucien gave her a sideways glance between bites of fruit. "This isn't the first time I've had to sleep in a stressful situation," he answered simply, as though the answer was obvious.

"Sure, but this goes a little beyond stressful, doesn't it? I mean, Equestria's more or less on the line here!" As the words left her mouth she remembered just how many times she and her friends had been in a similar situation.

Lucien's deadpan stare also did well to reinforce that reminder. "So why aren't the rest of the girls coming with us?" he asked, reading her mind in its entirety.

"They are, they're just a car back."

Lucien blinked, surprised. "Uh... okay."

Twilight grinned. "Not what you expected to hear, huh? They'd follow me even if we told them to stay, plus they're some of the handful of ponies in the Crystal Empire right now that have actual combat experience against Earth monsters, as limited as you might want to claim it is."

"Yeah... you got me with that. Doesn't answer why they're a car back though," he noted.

"We're in the front car with the squad leaders and unicorns and magic-enabled individuals--"

"Nice inclusivity there."

"Because-- thank you-- we, the Princesses and I, thought that it would be best if we all were able to process cloudwalking spells to everypony in the rest of the train if we all stayed in the front and disembarked first. We'd also let the squad leaders strategize with each other before the fight begins."

"Not a bad setup, Sparkle. What's the plan for getting everyone up to the city?"

"Originally it was just to improvise by individual, which pretty much meant that each pegasi would take a unicorn and fly them up, but I also hate improvising, so I'm working on a solution right now." Upon finishing the sentence, she turned to Lucien with a big smile.

Lucien, in the midst of eating a small bag of assorted nuts, took a moment to register the silence and look over. Their eyes met for one moment, and Lucien's gaze immediately dipped to the massive smile on Twilight's face. He sighed heavily, nearly spilling his nuts with the over-exaggerated motion. "What do you want me to do?"

"Drink an energy drink and levitate everypony on a disk of earth." Twilight smiled a bit wider, somehow, and Lucien could swear he saw a drop of sweat slide down her temple.

Lucien full-body sighed, illustrating that he could outperform his last sigh with stunning ease. "Fine. But I better not get any lecture for sleeping in late tomorrow, when most of this is taken care of."

"Deal!" Twilight leaned in quickly and pecked Lucien on the cheek. This time it was the human's turn to blush, as he placed a hand on his cheek, where he had been kissed.

In a fit of retaliation, he reached over and booped her on the nose, causing her face to scrunch up momentarily. They pouted at each other for a few moments before relaxing and letting out a few chuckles. "See, just relax a bit. It's just another day on the job," said Lucien after their chuckles had died down.

"Yeah," Twilight said, turning to look out the window, "Just another day on the job."

The affair of getting cloudwalking spells processed on the Equestrian forces was a surprisingly quick and efficient process. The Company wasn't the most organized organization when he was helping to run things, and its members weren't known for their discipline or manners. In a sharp contrast to his previous human comrades, the pastel horses processed the spells across the entire train within a minute, despite having only about 20 unicorns to deal with 50 pegasi and earth ponies. Granted, Twilight helped with the processing, and she was able to cast the spell within just a few seconds. She finished her work by casting it on Lucien, who had sat off to the side and sipped his energy drink, preparing the spell that would get them onto the flying city.

"Ready to go?" Twilight asked Lucien as she finished casting.

Lucien cracked his neck, and then his knuckles. "Thought you'd never ask." He stepped forward and straightened up, standing at his full height. "Alright, listen up! I'm not in charge of this operation, but I'm everyone's lift to Cloudsdale, so i'm gonna need you all within the circle that I drew on the ground over there! We might end up facing airborne issues on the way up, so the pegasi will break off for defense if need be. Unicorns, provided something that actually has wings attacks us, aim for those and it'll take down basically anything that's flying. If they don't have wings, just aim for the face I guess. Earth ponies just hold tight on the disk until we've made it to the ship's deck. I should be able to take us right in so you can all get to work neutralizing the ship's crew and wrecking basically anything on board that looks either dangerous or important. Keep your hammers with you at all times, and if it looks like it might explode, for the love of god don't touch it! Everyone ready? Let's go!"

And with a triumphant yell, Lucien lit his hands with magic and pointed towards the flying city nearby. With the sound of rumbling earth, a disk about 30 feet across and 3 feet wide rose from the ground and began hovering. Lucien, hands out and eyes narrowed in concentration, made a swiping motion and sent the platform flying towards Cloudsdale.

The cityscape approached rapidly, and they would undoubtedly reach it within minutes. Lucien, despite his attention being focused on maintaining the spell keeping the Equestrian forces afloat, heard Twilight and the girls discussing something quietly, but he was unable to make out what they were saying.

As they reached the same height as Cloudsdale the looming figure of the Engineers' airship quickly became visible. The massive metal structure towered over all the other buildings in the city, casting a long shadow in the mid-afternoon sun. Lucien could make out small flying creatures circling the air over the ship, likely the wyverns that he and Twilight had encountered before.

They were flying into the city proper and still nothing had attacked them. The large group of ponies, and one human, quickly approached the airship, Lucien unwilling to slow down and press their luck further. Once they were nearly beneath the numerous wyverns circling far above, Lucien stopped the disk and then forced it to climb rapidly, ascending to be level with the ship. As they approached deck-level a siren began to issue forth from within the hulking metal construct.

"Pegasi, grab your partners and fly up to the deck! Unicorns, prepare for ranged countermeasures!" Twilight called out forcefully, exerting her leadership.

Just then, a cacophony of shrieks and caws echoed across the city. Looking up, Lucien saw the wyverns had finally noticed them, and began to dive-bomb. "No time! Pegasi stop! Unicorns prepare defensive spells!" Lucien was pitting his speed against the wyverns, a creature practically designed to be fast in the air.

He increased the speed of the disk as it soared over the side of the main deck. "Unicorns, shields up!" Lucien called just as the first few bolts of magic, crossbow bolts, and other odd projectiles were thrown at them by the crew of the airship and the assorted Earth monsters that worked with them. A shield was erected in time to render all attacks null, and Lucien was able to safely maneuver the disk over solid metal. "Everyone off! Unicorns move the shield to a half-dome!"

Moving as one cohesive unit, the entire group leapt from the disk and landed on the deck. Grunting with the effort, Lucien then, quickly as possible, flipped the disk and moved it overhead of the squad. It was just in time as well, as the squishy sounds of wyverns impacting solid rock could be heard by the group beneath.

After five quick seconds of listening to impacts and watching the shield hold up under the onslaught brought by the ship's defenders, Lucien heard the wyverns stop and watched as they began to circle to the sides. "Alright, let's go! Attack!" Lucien roared.

With a ferocious battle cry the assorted ponies charged forth to engage in combat. The unicorns dropped the large shield and instead paired off to raise personal shields for charging earth ponies, while pegasi took to the sky to do battle with the quick, but fragile, wyverns.

Lucien continued his war cry as he swung the disk of earth above his head once, then slung it at the control room of the airship. The chunk of solid rock careened through the air, flying not unlike a frisbee until it slammed straight through the glass and metal that separated the control room from the outside. A plume of dust and smoke issued forth with the contact, and the entire ship shook for a moment under the force of the impact.

Lucien stood still for a moment, knees bent and body slightly crumpled, to catch his breath and watch the smoke and dust dissipate into the sky. "Lucien!" he heard from right behind him, as he heard the sound of a wyvern get simultaneously blasted by magic and slapped by a heavy chain.

He turned to see Twilight and Applejack look at him grimly, with the rest of the girls looking at him expectantly. "Thanks. Okay, Twilight and I are splitting off to go put that bomb permanently out of commission, the rest of you help out up here and make sure that everyone gets inside the ship alright. If you see Sandcroft, run away and use the sending stones I gave you to send a message to me." Each pony nodded, recalling the rocks he'd given them back on the train. "Alright, break!"

The Elements charged into battle with the rest of the Equestrian forces attempting to combat the varied monstrosities that constituted the defenses on the ship, keeping together as a cohesive unit even during a heated fight. Lucien could only shake his head as he witnessed their ferocity, a far cry from the first time he had seen them all in combat. The entire scene before him seemed entirely out of place, and it only compounded the guilt he had felt earlier.

"Lucien, let's go!" he heard Twilight shout and felt her pull him, thus breaking him from his stupor.

"Right! You remember where to go?" he ran after her, following her as she ran towards an entrance to the ship's main interior.

"According to the blueprints we got the engineering bay should be close to the bottom. Four flights of stairs, the first two are up here on the right!" She blasted a dark and lanky creature to the side as they ran past, Lucien giving it an extra punch as he followed. Just as Twilight had said, they reached a staircase that led down two floors. The sounds of fighting grew further as they bounded down the staircase and the pair slowed as they realized the sounds of battle wouldn't mask their steps as effectively.

"There shouldn't be much down here in the way of guards or defenses, I think. They should all be bush dealing with the problem we're making topside," Lucien noted quietly as they slowed to a walk.

"I still expect the engineering bay to have something guarding it. Or someone," Twilight responded as they rounded a corner and took the final two flights of stairs down into the engineering bay. As they began to round the final set of steps, a loud and upset voice reached them, at first too faint to make out. Twilight motioned to Lucien to stop as she peeked around the corner, Lucien leaning over to take a look after making sure neither of them would make any noise.

The engineering bay was a spacious area deep in the heart of the ship. Labels and signs along the walls of the interior had directed Lucien and Twilight to the bay, and further signs directed them towards the engine rooms through an entryway at the side of the large room. The bay itself was littered with mechanics, metals, tools, and assorted magical paraphernalia, likely there for sake of experiments and designs designed by Bronze Gear, who happened to be standing in the middle of the bay; right next to the anti-magic bomb, which occupied a majority of the space.

However, she was not the only one in the room. The voice Lucien and Twilight had heard earlier belonged to the stallion that was currently lecturing Bronze angrily, his back turned towards the pair on the stairs in the back of the bay.

"I don't care that we're not in Manehatten yet! You told us that it would be ready today in preparation for the siege! What happened, you idiot!?" the gold-colored stallion nearly yelled at Bronze.

"It was difficult enough to design a reusable bomb, Gold, I need a lot of time between discharges to make sure that it'll actually work again. And that's not even mentioning the amount of energy required to even power the spells that nullify magic! Frankly, it's exhausting! It's left me with barely any magic left to lift a screwdriver!" Bronze shot back, taking an aggressive step towards the stallion, who Lucien and Twilight could assume was Gold Dust, one of the other engineers who they had barely seen before being sent back to Earth.

"Maybe you should have designed a better bomb then!" Gold Dust blew air from his nose, snorting in anger. "Whatever, it doesn't matter now. How soon can you get this operational? Things might not go very well on the deck."

Bronze shifted her gaze to look at the anti-magic bomb, lingering on the parts where the paneling was missing, exposing the mechanical, magical, and chemical aspects of the device. "I'd say..." she continued sweeping her eyes around the room, until they finally passed over Lucien and Twilight peeking around the corner of the staircase. Her eyes widened a bit, then she looked back at Gold. "I might be able to coax out a weak detonation in about ten minutes if you do me a favor?"

"Ten minutes? That's... acceptable, provided his creatures slow the Equestrians down enough." Gold, whose gaze had fallen in concentration as he spoke, leveled on Bronze again. "What's the favor?"

Bronze dropped her face into a deadpan stare. "Get out of my shop. And let me work." Her horn ignited, lifting a heavy-looking and oddly-shaped tool from a nearby workbench.

"Uh, can do." Gold shifted a little, clearly uneasy seeing Bronze's loss of patience. He turned towards the stairs, keeping his head turned to look at Bronze. "Just make sure you get that thing repaired quickly, I don't want to risk anything with this fight." He started to walk towards the stairs, directly towards Lucien and Twilight, who quickly ducked behind the corner as he turned to look in their direction.

"Yeah, I don't want to risk anything either." Lucien and Twilight had to strain their ears to catch the rather quiet remark from Bronze Gear before a dull thunk was heard echoing throughout the bay. Lucien and Twilight looked at each other for a moment before peeking their heads around the corner of the stairs again.

Bronze Gear stood where they had last saw her, though her stance was now wider and she appeared to be breathing heavily. Gold Dust's back was to her, though now he was sprawled out on the floor, clearly unconscious.

Clang! The tool Bronze was hovering in her magic clattered to the ground as she sat down heavily, still breathing hard. "You can come out now. He's out cold," she called out.

Cautiously, Lucien and Twilight emerged from their hiding place on the steps and entered the engineering bay proper. "I guess you really were the one leaking their plans to us, huh?" Twilight said after a tense moment.

Bronze leaned against the metal plating of the anti-magic bomb, her breathing slowing. "Yeah. All of that stuff I told Gold about the bomb was fake too. This thing's mostly decommissioned now. Nobody could tell but me, so it wasn't too hard." She stood and walked over to Twilight. "I was jealous of you at one point, you know? Filly prodigy and student of Princess Celestia. We never really even met."

Twilight blinked, surprised. "I'm... sorry?" She looked back at Lucien, her expression conveying in equal parts confusion and a desire for help. Lucien just shrugged in response.

"No, no, I'm sorry that this whole situation has caused so much trouble. I'm sorry that my pride and desire for revenge on the Princess blinded me so much that I trusted Sandcroft blindly with my work. At least we can finally put things to rest." She glanced sideways at Twilight. "I better be getting a pardon for my help here, after all this is over," she said with a small smile.

Twilight matched the smile. "I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, do you think you can put this bomb permanently out of commission?"

Bronze's smile widened into a grin, and Lucien noticed the tool she'd knocked Gold Dust out with float up into the air again. "The only thing I like more than building things is breaking things."

"Sounds like you've got it handled then," Lucien said, taking a few steps back towards the stairs. "Where's Ironwing?"

"Probably fighting. Stupid bird was always itching to throw down with someone." Bronze had turned her attention to the bomb, beginning to dismantle pieces of the plating with her magic.

Twilight levitated some chains off a nearby table and tied up Gold Dust, then deposited him to the side of the room. "And Sandcroft?"

Bronze Gear stopped. "No idea, to be honest. He's the type of pony that finds you, not usually the other way around. But with the ruckus you're making around here, I don't doubt he'll show up soon."

"Thanks." With that, Lucien and Twilight returned to the staircase and ascended. Once they had climbed back up the first two flights, they paused for a moment.

"What's our next step?" Twilight asked, keeping an eye out for any enemies.

"I'd say go help out topside but I don't want to catch anyone in collateral damage. Neither of us are very suited to large-scale combat with a lot of allies in the way."

"How about checking the bridge, then?" Before Lucien could respond, the pair had to grab hold of the walls to stabilize themselves as the entire ship shook for a moment. A loud grating echoed down the halls, and a rumbling emanated from below them. "That must be the engines being disabled," Twilight offered.

Lucien nodded. "We can go check the bridge, but I did kinda hurl a giant rock through their window. Not sure if anyone is in there anymore." He paused for a moment. "At least, not in a state that would make them a threat," he then added, darkly.

"You're... not wrong." Twilight's face adopted a grim frown. "Let's go check."

"Alright."

With their next destination in mind, Lucien and Twilight continued making their way down the halls, ascending several sets of stairs along the way. The main section of the airship was ten floors tall, with the lowest being the engine rooms and the highest being the bridge. The pair passed through living quarters, the galley, and what seemed to be entire floors dedicated to hosting the odd assortment of creatures from Earth that Sandcroft had brought on board. It took them five minutes in all to navigate to the bridge, Twilight taking the lead due to her memorization of the airship's blueprints. The fact that there were signs for navigation posted at every intersecting hallway certainly didn't hurt their journey either.

Upon rounding the final set of stairs, Lucien and Twilight arrived at the bridge, or put more accurately, what was left of it. The metal door leading into the control room of the ship had been blown off the hinges and lay smashed on the opposite wall, and the wall of the room itself was dented nearly to the point of caving in. The cause was visible through the gap left by the broken door: the stone disk that Lucien had thrown at the start of their siege.

"Well. I guess this was a pointless trip." Lucien sat down on the top step of the staircase.

"We should go join everypony outside. Things should be wrapping up right around now, if my calculations were correct, but the wild card is still unaccounted for." Twilight walked past Lucien, heading down the staircase, frowning.

"You'd think that he would pay more attention to the siege of his ship and destruction of his army, right?" Lucien joined her in walking, shrugging as he spoke.

"It bothers me. He was there immediately the first time we boarded the ship, where is he now?" Twilight had adopted her thinking face while they walked, heading back down to the main level.

"Maybe we got lucky and he was on the bridge when I hit it," Lucien suggested. "Wouldn't that be--"

Before he was about to finish his sentence, he and Twilight had reached the main level and rounded the corner. Across the narrow hallway from them, just having climbed up the staircase from the engineering bay, was a familiar blue-colored top-hat-wearing unicorn. Their eyes met and surprise crossed his features for a split second before his horn lit and began to draw in magic.

"--Nice." Lucien finished his thought before pulling Twilight back with a pulse of magic and taking a single short moment to charge up a blast of pure energy, firing it off just in time to collide with Sandcroft's. The green-tinted torrent of magic poured out from his hand, roaring forth and colliding with the unicorn's with enough force to cause the floor to shake. The beams covered the entire hallway from wall to wall and nearly blinded them just as the raw heat pouring out from it nearly burned them. The unicorn on the other side matched Lucien's strength, forcing their duel to a standstill.

After taking three deep breaths to maintain concentration and draw deeper from his magical reserves, he increased the output of his beam, causing it to widen and eclipse the metal walls of the hallway. Almost immediately the walls grew red hot and melted down under the force of the magic pouring from Lucien's core. The stalemate he and Sandcroft were in began to slowly shift in Lucien's favor.

At least, it began slowly. After seven seconds of sustained magic output, Twilight had decided that she had seen enough. After taking a moment to assess the situation, she charged up her own spell and let loose as Lucien increased the strength of his blast.

Purple-tinted magic spiraled around the green-tinted crackling beam, enhancing its already considerable strength and turning the tide of the fight, which was already in Lucien's favor, into something that hardly resembled a contest.

Lucien and Twilight's combined blast rocketed down the hallway, practically devouring Sandcroft's beam and slamming into him with all the force of a train. As soon as Lucien had registered that Sandcroft's magic flare had died down, he ceased his own, breathing heavily from the exertion. He nearly stumbled as Twilight pressed up against him, breathing hard herself feeling the stress releasing so much magic puts on the body.

The walls of the hallway they were in had melted entirely. The ten feet of clearance they had from wall to wall had opened up to include the rooms on either side, and a massive circular hole dominated the back wall, revealing the main deck of the ship and several moderately wounded Equestrian soldiers looking in on them from outside. The floor had not entirely been spared either, an inch-deep scar of quickly-cooling molten metal spanned nearly the entire length of the ship, stretching almost all the way to the bow. Shakily standing where the beam had finally dissipated was Sandcroft, hat now missing and looking worse for the wear.

Lucien and Twilight took a moment to look at one another before she helped him stand straight, and the pair walked out to the main deck. Equestrian forces stood to the side as they walked out, and the dead or unconscious bodies of Earth monsters and Ironwing's crew lay scattered across the cold metal.

"The outcome of a fight," Sandcroft called out, his voice tinged with the exhaustion of casting a powerful spell, "is supposedly decided within the first ten seconds, isn't that right, Lucien?" Even from their distance, the pair could see his eyes narrow. "It's been about fifteen."

"It looks pretty decided to me," Lucien responded confidently, gesturing to the state of the opposing sides' fighters.

"Looks can be deceiving," Sandcroft shot back with a chuckle, catching his breath finally. "Now how did the two of you get back to Equus?"

"You may have meddled a lot with Earth," Twilight answered, "but you never erased the magic circle that Lucien used to get here in the first place." Her voice rang with the same confidence of Lucien's but with the added benefit of not sounding drained from maintaining the beam spell.

"Well, I suppose that it doesn't matter. I'll just send the two of you, and the rest of the Equestrians too, this time, back to Earth once again." His horn lit and immediately began to glow brightly. The glow increased in intensity until it finally overrode Lucien's and Twilight's vision, just like the last time.

However, unlike the last time, they weren't waking up on a beach in California afterward. The glow faded, and the pair stood strong, glaring at Sandcroft, the Equestrian forces at their sides ready to continue the fight. "Keep back, everyone, I don't want collateral damage."

Upon finishing casting the spell and dismissing the light, Sandcroft immediately saw the results. His face, up until that point fixed in a smug grin of assured victory, morphed from confusion, to something that looked suspiciously like fear, and then to anger.

"You. Unbelievable. Human." Sandcroft growled the words, rage bleeding through the emphasis. "You would forsake your planet, Your people. For Equestria? I watched you for years, saw how you had grown to love humanity. You were perfect for my plan, right up to the point where you would be unable to give Earth up to stand against me."

"It wasn't easy," Lucien admitted, "but Twilight made it easier." He looked down at her and smiled, resting a hand on her withers. "And you forgot something important in your plans: Discord's not an asshole, he's a human."

Upon hearing this, Sandcroft began to literally tremble with rage. "That infernal draconequus! He was always too unpredictable but I never thought he would return to his backwater planet!"

Lucien slowly drew his sword. "What did you just call Earth?" He lowered his body into a fighting stance.

Sandcroft grew a malicious grin. "It's a filthy, monster-infested, backwater, trash heap of a planet!" Sandcroft lowered his body into a fighting stance.

Lucien matched the unicorn's grin, feeling the invigoration of a challenging fight rush through his veins. "That's what I thought you said." And with a ferocious cry, he charged forth.

"I need you to help me with regards to properly dealing with Sandcroft."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about that."

"Oh? Did you have something in mind?"

"I did. We're dealing with a bit of an unorthodox problem in that he lies somewhat outside of the planet's jurisdiction. Discord told you all about Gatekeepers, right?"

"He did. I confess that I was already somewhat aware of a presence of that nature, safekeeping the boundaries of our plane, but I'd always assumed it was a force akin to a genius loci rather than being embodied by a single being. Much less a pony that has lived in my domain for supposed centuries. I digress; continue."

"You know how this is going to have to go, correct? I've seen the whole 'redemption arc' thing work on a lot of the villains that Twilight and her friends have faced, but..."

"This time is different. I'm afraid with the amount of ponies and other creatures living in Equestria that have been lost as a consequence of Sandcroft's actions, peace is no longer an option."

"I'm... glad we're on the same page then."

"Are you sure you're willing to shoulder the burden that comes with such a position? I'm aware of your affinity for Earth, and you must be aware that doing this means you likely will never be able to return."

"...I know. But my mind was made up about this a good while ago."

"In that case: thank you. And good luck."

Lucien's charge was immediately met with a wall of force raised by Sandcroft, sending him sprawling backwards and his sword flying from his grasp. Rolling over quickly, Lucien leapt back to his feet and summoned his sword back to him. With a thought his chakrams appeared in his hands and he flicked them at the unicorn, but he was immediately met with dismay as they were telekinetically blasted away.

After a second Lucien's sword appeared back in his hand and he let out a long breath. Before he could say anything he heard Sandcroft call out. "It seems we're at an im-"

But he was interrupted as Lucien shot a bolt of magic at him. "No impasse here!" he said as he leapt back into action, closing the distance between them with a flash teleport to begin hacking away at the wall of force Sandcroft had raised.

The unicorn raised barrier after barrier as Lucien kept slicing through and shattering the various domes and walls that were created. Lucien was able to keep his eyes locked on Sandcroft the whole time, taking more than a slight please in seeing him wince with the aftershock of having a construct broken.

"We're not... so different... you and I!" Sandcroft managed to get out between barrier breaks.

"Shut up!" Lucien replied, throwing his strength into a particularly hard swing of his hammer. "You're not gonna... pull some Joker shit on me!"

Sandcroft chuckled, nearly wheezing, "You're such a fool... up until now... I've only been using... a fraction of my power!"

Lucien froze mid-swing of his hammer, lightly tapping the next barrier the unicorn had created. "Did you just..."

Sandcroft continued to catch his breath, for some reason not taking the break to go on the offensive. He continued to stare Lucien down.

"You're really ruining this whole..." he gestured to all of Sandcroft with his hands.

"That was my intention, you fool!" he suddenly roared, charging up his horn with magic. Lucien raised his sword in a defensive position, casting a barrier of his own to block the next attack.

But the attack never came.

In a nearly-blinding flash, Sandcroft disappeared. In his place instead was a simple white door with a black spade emblazoned in the center.

"He is really intent on making this as much like a traditional boss fight as he can," Lucien mused, catching his breath. Twilight walked to his side while he stood.

"Lucien..." she placed a hoof to his side, eyes soft with concern. "I can't let you go in there alone."

He set his hand over her hoof, still looking at the door. "You're gonna have to," he said after a moment of silence.

Twilight searched his eyes, her gaze flicking back and forth between them. She took in a breath and stepped backwards, exhaling. "This is what you talked to Celestia about earlier, isn't it?" Lucien finally looked away from the door to notice the hurt on Twilight's face. "I thought you weren't going to keep secrets like this, after the last time."

"She asked me to." A lie.

"It's not Celestia to... Well, actually it is, but still. I thought that you'd trust me enough to tell me something like this."

"Look," Lucien began, kneeling and bringing her into a hug. "I'm gonna go through that door, and when I come out there's gonna be no more secrets between us, alright?"

Twilight pushed him back a little bit. Moisture was clear in her eyes. "I'm holding you to it. Pinkie Promise."

Lucien smiled. "Pinkie Promise," he said, quickly going through the motions.

He broke their embrace and stood. He looked over to the rest of the Equestrians, who had gathered after taking care of the rest of the Engineer's forces. He noticed a knocked-out and bound Ironwing in the back of the crowd. The rest of the Elements stood at the front of the group, all looking slightly worse for wear but clearly happy the fight was almost won.

"Good luck in there, Lucien." Applejack stepped forward, taking off her hat. "We're all rooting for ya," she said, gesturing to the ponies around her. The rest of his friends gave emphatic nods, while the guardsponies stomped their hooves.

For once, Lucien was speechless. He felt a little tickle behind his eyes and quickly hid it by taking off his backpack and rummaging around in it. "Thanks, everyone." He stood, withdrawing his sidearm from the back and making sure it was loaded. "I'll see you in a few!"

And with that, he turned and opened the door. A harsh light shone through, blinding in its brilliance. Normally he would hold himself with caution, going into an unfamiliar room with an enemy guaranteed inside, but his instincts assured his safety in this moment. Taking a final breath, he stepped in.

The white room was silent, unassuming. The fine marble table and slanted windows were free of dust and immaculate in their construction. The blinding light shone through the vaulted openings in the walls, bringing a light not unlike day to the room. Seated at the end of the table, hat off his head, was Sandcroft.

Lucien, after his eyes took half a second to adjust, immediately aimed his pistol at the pony, keeping his sword at the ready in his other hand.

Sandcroft chuckled. "Now now, there's no need for that. Take a seat, would you?"

Lucien sighed. "You couldn't just make this easy for me, could you? Couldn't have just fought me out there and ended everything without more words. I'm as much a fan of banter as the next guy, but," Lucien sat, leaning his sword against the table and placing the pistol on the surface, keeping his hand next to it, "this has gone on for too long." He stared the unicorn down, remembering the feeling of rage he had always relied on when fighting to defend Earth. Strangely, he felt more hollow than ever before. Worn out, in a sense.

"It's not just banter though, is it? I've made enough... pop culture references to make you curious at the very least. I'm sure that you didn't come in here expecting answers, you never do, but I know that you would very much like some." Sandcroft smiled good-naturedly, if a bit haggard. The drain on his mana must've been hitting him hard.

"Why do you know so much about me? I get that you've been watching me for some time," he said, referencing the symbol he'd noticed spread throughout his sketchbook, hidden in every picture, "but I still can't understand why."

"You interested me." He paused, gauging Lucien's reaction. When none came, he continued. "I didn't watch everything, nor was I there to influence everything, but I saw in you a stronger motivation to help your planet in the best way you know. That sort of motivation spoke to me, I suppose."

"It spoke to you?"

Sandcroft directed his attention to his hat, rubbing a hoof along the top. "I come from a time far in the past. I was there to see the princesses take control over Equestria, and I was the Gatekeeper when the man you know as Discord entered this plane."

He paused again, giving Lucien time to interrupt. "You let him in?"

Sandcroft raised his eyes again, meeting Lucien's. "I did. Equis is no stranger to beings coming in from different planes of existence. Refugees of a sort, if you will. My existence is supposed to be based solely on monitoring what comes in and what leaves, as well as rejecting what may do harm to the plane. I don't always know what will happen when someone or something comes in, however. Discord was my first... let's call it an experiment into what would happen should I let something more dangerous stay."

Lucien felt his blood rush faster. "And you could have banished him at any time? You just let him wreak havoc on Equis?"

Sandcroft went back to looking at his hat. "Well, yes. As I said, it was something of an experiment. I wanted to see if the denizens of this plane could, well, toughen up. To see what would happen if I stopped watching out for everyone and let them handle it."

"So you wanted to see if you could shirk your duties. Your 'purpose'," Lucien nearly snarled.

Sandcroft was unperturbed. "That's a rather uncouth way of putting things, but yes. I wanted to see if Equis could produce the power necessary to contend with higher beings. With planar invaders, those who would come not as refugees but as conquerors. Even a Gatekeeper has his limits, as well as ways to circumvent their abilities, as you did in returning here." He gestured to Lucien with a hoof.

"So why do all this with the Engineers then? And why influence me to come here?"

"To answer your latter question, because I was interested in seeing your potential. As well as to see if you could defend this plane with the same fervor that you defended Earth. I was pleased to see your dedication is not just limited to mankind." He stood, prompting Lucien to grab his sidearm and aim it at him. He either didn't notice or didn't care, as he went to look out the window closest to him. "As to your former question, that's a bit more complicated. Equis, and Equestria as a country, had become complacent with the peace the Sisters brought. Conflict breeds progress, and this plane had stagnated for centuries without any real major discoveries due in part to their lack of desire for invention. Or, in this case, a lack of necessity. I'm sure you're aware of just how much technology on Earth was originally designed for use in warfare. The World Wars and the Space Race generated so much invention in such a short span of time... I confess I wanted to artificially trigger the same sort of effect. But a bit more modified towards the ends I wanted this plane to meet."

"What do you mean, your 'ends'?"

Sandcroft turned to face Lucien again. "As I said, I wanted to see if Equis could defend itself from enemies invading from other planes of existence. So I let in certain beings that would create trouble. Most monsters in the Everfree Forest, the Changelings, the Nightmares, and the knowledge of shadow magic that corrupted Sombra, to name a few."

"So you just... allowed these things to happen? Didn't you feel any remorse for the suffering you caused?" Lucien rose his voice.

"I will never feel any regret for helping Equis toughen up. Everything I let in eventually met its defeat one way or another, and the forces of this plane grew in the process. Conflict. Breeds. Progress." He looked back out the window. "Tell me, what do you see looking out the window?"

Lucien, eyes still narrowed staring down the pony, finally broke his gaze and attempted to look out the window. The light was still harsh, but his eyes attempted to adjust. After a few seconds of squinting, he was finally able to make something out. "It looks like some kind of city. But it's not Equestrian, or Terran." He could just barely see the outlines of buildings and vehicles.

"I would be surprised if you recognized it. It's another plane, one I doubt you've ever visited. As is my right as the one who controls the gate of this plane, I'm able to peek through the windows and see the neighbors. Earth's window is behind you, by the way."

Lucien didn't turn around. His eyes settled back on Sandcroft, and he pulled back the slide on his pistol, letting it snap back into position and catching the bullet that ejected.

Sandcroft flinched at the sound, turning to look back at the seated man. He smiled again, this time a bit nervously. "In truth, this has gone about the way that I expected. I've known you long enough to understand your actions. I know at this point you must be looking for a way to resolve this without murdering me in cold blood, is that right?"

Lucien held still for a moment, then stood. He picked up his sword and pocketed the bullet, keeping his pistol in his hand. He stepped back and pushed in his chair. "You and I both know the consequences of what is about to happen, is that right?" He took a step towards Sandcroft.

The smile on the pony's face immediately fell. "There is another way out of this. I can just leave, and you can be the champion defender of this plane like you were back on Earth." Another step. "You can found a new Company, train others to defend just like you did on Earth!"

Another step.

"There's no need for any more bloodshed, I yield!"

Another step.

Sandcroft had backed into the corner, Lucien had reached the end of the table the unicorn had been sitting at when he came in. "You're supposed to offer your hand to me! Your rage has been quelled with Discord's return to Earth, hasn't it? You don't have to kill me!"

Lucien paused. "This is the part where I say some one-liner and shoot you, is that right? Does that sound like something you know I would do?" He took another two steps and he was standing over Sandcroft. He leveled his sidearm at the pony's head, finger resting on the trigger.

"Well you're right. This isn't that kind of story."

And there were no words left to be said.

Author's Notes:

1

Epilogue: ...Have Happy Endings

Lucien reappeared in a flash of light, stepping out from Sandcroft's, and now his, door. Gun still smoking, he sighed, and sheathed his sword.

"Lucien!" he heard a chorus of voices yell, before he was tackled by something soft and Twilight-shaped.

He laughed, a genuine full laugh, and hugged the alicorn tightly. "It's over," he said with finality. "It's finally--oof!"

He was suddenly tackled by five other ponies at once, bowling him over onto the hard metal deck of the airship. "Thank Celestia you came back!" he heard Fluttershy exclaim.

"Hey, hey, hey watch out, I've still got a loaded gun here! Back off for a second so I can put it away!" he managed to get out through his laughter. The ponies all backed off him at that, giving him the space he needed to unload his weapon and stow it safely in his backpack. "Alright, get back here!" he held his arms out wide for a group hug, a sentiment that was immediately obliged by his friends.

"You were in there for so long, are you okay?" Twilight asked him, pulling back a little so she can see his face.

Lucien backed off a bit, scooching himself out from under the dogpile. "Yeah, I'm fine. He, uh, didn't have much fight left in him." That was probably the best way of putting it.

"So does that mean that you're..." Twilight started, trailing off.

"That he's what?" Pinkie questioned, breaking in by walking over and sitting on Lucien's chest, causing him to let out a little puff of air.

"I'm Equis' Gatekeeper now. So, I guess I'm here to stay," he said, lifting up Pinkie by her armpits and placing her on the ground next to him.

"We heard a little bit about Gatekeepin' from Twilight back at the Empire, but are you sure you want to stay? Ah mean, you've told us about how much you care for Earth."

"Yeah, not that having you around for sure wouldn't be awesome, but we know that this was supposed to be, like, a vacation for you."

"Well, I can go visit sometimes, maybe. But things are gonna get better there with Discord helping get things back in control." Lucien paused, a thought crossing his mind. "Actually, since we both control what goes in and out of these two planes, visiting shouldn't be too complicated..." Lucien trailed off.

"Let's worry about that later," Twilight said, interrupted his train of thought. "For now, let's just get back to the Crystal Empire and give everyone the good news. I got a letter from Celestia earlier reporting that fighting in Manehattan has finally stopped, the flow of monsters from Earth stopped not long before you came back out." She paused. "I guess that's because you..."

"Yeah." Lucien picked up where she left off. "Let's... not talk about that. I think I've done enough talking to or about that godforsaken unicorn for a long time." Lucien stood, hoisting Twilight up under his arm.

"Hey!" she yelped, startled.

"Nah, I'm gonna carry you right now." He shifted her so he was cradling her more so than hauling her like baggage. He looked down to see a blush on her face, and he bent his neck down to give the top of her head a little kiss.

"Blech! Can you two not!?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, prompting a bout of laughter from their friends. Despite the outburst, a smile was clear on her face.

"Better get used to it, Rainbow, because I'm not going anywhere!" Lucien said, feeling lighter than he'd felt in weeks. "Alright, let's get going!" he pointed a finger in a random direction and began walking.

"Lucien, what about the door," Twilight said, poking him with her hoof.

"Oh yeah, uh..." He pointed, causing the door to fold in on itself and disappear. "I guess that room's mine now. Pretty nice to have some more extraplanar storage. "

"The train's this way, you dorks!" Lucien turned to see Rainbow and the rest of the Equestrian forces beginning to disembark from the airship.

Lucien walked over to the side of the ship, a little confused considering they were moored in the air last he had checked. But when he looked over the side, he saw that they were gently leveled with the fluffy surface of Cloudsdale. "Wait how did we land? I thought I destroyed the control room."

"Bronze Gear did," Twilight responded as stepped off the metal of the ship and onto the springy clouds. "She's been apprehended now, but she operated the ship from inside and lowered it for us. It seems like she's ready to face the consequences of what she did."

"Hmm. I'll have to talk to her later. And Ironwing. And maybe Gold Dust, but that guy seems a little 'out there' if you know what I mean."

Twilight looked up at him. "Talk to them? About what? And remember," she said, booping his nose, "no more secrets."

Lucien laughed, scrunching his nose from the boop. "Well, even though it was really misguided, all this stuff with the Engineers is really incredible. Since friendship is the way to go around here, I figured I could give it a try with them and see if they had anything to offer, that isn't a weapon, to help Equestria. Because this whole airship and the weird metal suit thing are super cool."

"Well, it seems like teaching you about friendship really paid off then," Twilight said smugly.

"Hey now," Lucien replied, booping her nose, "don't go getting all self-satisfied just because I'm an Equestrian now."

Twilight giggled and pulled him into a hug. "I'm just glad that you've finally come around to our way of thinking."

Lucien conjured the spectral glider he had used back when the airship had first appeared and allowed them to slowly fall to the ground, making sure to keep an eye around around him so everypony else made it down safely. "Hey, now that I'm an Equestrian, maybe I should make myself into a pony to fit in better..." Lucien thought out loud.

Twilight snapped her head around to look at him. "No."

"But--"

"No. You're fine just the way you are." Twilight paused, looking away for a moment. "Well, I guess if you wanted to for a bit, that would be fine. I bet you'd make a cute stallion," she laughed, obviously picturing it in her head.

"You mean a manly stallion, right? Like Big Mac." Lucien attempted to flex but remembered that he was still holding Twilight, so he just ended up squeezing her tighter.

"We'll have to find out sometime," Twilight said, her voice sounding a bit strained. After he relaxed his grip she continued. "Let's just focus on what's happening now and help get everypony moved back into Canterlot and Ponyville. There's still a lot of work to be done fixing Equestria." She sighed. "Again."

The Equestrian group finally made it back to the train and began the process of boarding and counting heads. Lucien and Twilight stayed around long enough to confirm that, in a much appreciated surprise, everypony made it back in relatively one piece. They were returning with everypony they left with and the captured forces of the Engineers. Twilight asked the rest of the girls for more details on what happened while they were searching for Sandcroft and she and Lucien learned that the monsters, not unlike those they had encountered in the past, had disintegrated in a sense after being defeated. Lucien was almost sad that he didn't get to participate in scavenging their remains for any goodies.

That feeling didn't last very long, however, as he fell asleep almost immediately after the train began the long trip back to the Crystal Empire.

"I'm glad things went well, to say the least." Celestia, Lucien, Twilight, and Luna were seated in the meeting room adjacent to the Canterlot Castle throne room. "I'm thankful that our subjects are so adaptable in troubling times. Only one day later and most of the mess has been cleaned up."

"What are you going to do with the airship, anyway?" Lucien asked, pulling his legs in to sit with them crossed. "The Engineers' things are the crown's property now, right?"

Luna nodded. "It is a strange contraption indeed, one that we would very much enjoy deploying on diplomacy trips." She paused. "After removing the weaponry, of course."

"Things will go back to normal in no time, I'm sure," Twilight contributed.

"Speaking of normal..." Lucien began, "where's Bronze Gear?"

"We have her under house arrest in the castle. We've allowed her access to the workshops as well, under supervision of course. As she's expressed remorse for her actions with the other Engineers, her punishment is lighter: working for the crown once again. Though she'll be working directly under the head craftsponies this time and will not be able to work on any independent projects. We're labeling it a form of public service."

"And Ironwing?"

"He's... elected to be uncooperative. Just as well, Bronze Gear was unable to persuade him that working for us would be the better alternative to serving a sentence of more traditional public service."

"I understand." Lucien paused. "Can I go see Bronze? There's something I want to ask her about."

The sisters looked at each other. "I don't see why not," Celestia answered.

Bronze Gear had been relocated to one of the several towers in the castle, this one notable for being converted to a studio of sorts, with nearly every surface available coated in dry-erase paint. Models of various devices hung from the ceiling, no doubt left by previous occupants of the space, and stacks of books on all sorts of subjects lined bookshelves on the back wall.

Lucien had fully expected to walk into the space and find it a complete mess, with the first steps of new projects littering the floor and walls. Instead, the place was rather empty and tidy. As Lucien closed the door softly he noticed Bronze sitting near the large window across the room, tossing a marker into the air and then catching it again. The first sketches of some new project were drawn onto the transparent surface.

Lucien walked towards her, allowing his boots to echo on the stone floor. "Hey," he said simply.

Bronze turned her head, her eyes flicking down his form and then back up. "Hey," she replied, turning back to look at her project.

"I never got to mention it, but... that was a good fight, back then." Lucien took a few steps closer to look at what she was working on. "Of course, I still hate how you took away my magic, but it had been a while since I'd had to win without using it. Kept me sharp."

Bronze huffed a short sigh and rotated her body to look at him better. "You know, I'm sure we're going to have a lot of conversations in the future, but if you could just get to the point of why you're here now it would be really great."

Lucien stopped for a moment, meeting her gaze. "What... did Sandcroft promise you? Why did you do..." he waved his hands in the air, "all of that?"

Bronze rolled her eyes and set the marker on the ground, thinking for a moment. Then she picked it up again, uncapped it, and drew a simple spade on the window. "Does it really matter at this point? It's already over, and I've already gotten grilled by the guard and Princess Celestia herself. I'd like to move on."

Lucien's eyes narrowed. "For my sake... please. Now that I'm taking over his position, I'd like to know."

They stared each other down for another few seconds. Then, when Lucien began to consider walking away, she opened her mouth and spoke.

"I was... upset. To put it gently," she began, looking away. "I'd had this vision of what I wanted to build for a while, and it evolved over time to look more and more like something that could be used... well, violently. Originally it was supposed to be something like a prosthetic, or assistance for ponies or other creatures with dysfunctional limbs. I changed my project proposition a few times, but the Princess kept trying to steer me further away from what I wanted to make." She looked back up at Lucien. "And that upset me."

Lucien kept looking back at her for a few moments, but her mouth stayed shut. He motioned for her to continue. "And?"

"I found Sandcroft in the marketplace, felt like I was directed to him, in a sense. When I got to his tent, he gave me what I needed, told me what I wanted to hear, and sent me off with a purpose. I was angry, dumb, and I wanted to make a scene. I guess that I thought if I... I don't even know anymore. I don't even know what I wanted. All I know is that after I got thrown in the dungeons, I realized just how much I'd been used. Manipulated." She looked out the window. "I wish I could just say that he... I don't know, brainwashed me, or something. Just to have an excuse for how I acted. It wasn't me at all."

Lucian sighed an pulled up a nearby chair to sit down. "Apparently he played more than just you, if it's any consolation."

Bronze's ears perked up. "What do you mean?"

"Turns out he'd been watching me for a while, since before I came to Equestria. He orchestrated a few big moments in my life somehow, and knew that it would eventually lead me to do something stupid. He took advantage of that moment and it led me here." Lucien paused, looking back over at Bronze. "I guess that here's not too bad in the end, actually."

Bronze stared for a moment. "Yeah, you're not wrong."

The two looked at each other for a few seconds longer before Lucien stood and walked towards the door. "Thanks for talking with me, Bronze. It was informative." He opened the door and, as he walked out, heard her say one last thing.

"Yeah."

Getting the ponies and other varied inhabitants of Equestria settled back in took another week or so. The Engineers, in their haste to move east after taking Canterlot and the surrounding area, had very little impact on the infrastructure. The local governments actually ended up concluding that it was a better idea to just clear out instead of waging a fight for the towns, as full-scale battles would inevitably end up damaging buildings and roads more than it would be worth.

Lucien took the time following getting everyone back into Ponyville to check on Aiden after hearing that he wanted to see him, having been told that he had created a place by Sweet Apple Acres. It was a modest affair, much like the last one, seemingly crafted into the natural surroundings but lacking the semi-camouflage that characterized his previous abode in the Everfree Forest.

When he approached the door he was surprised to hear voices on the inside. He knocked a few times on the wood and waited after hearing them quiet down, only for the door to open to reveal Aiden and, to his slight surprise, Applejack sitting at a little table near a window.

"Hey, Lucien, come on in," said Aiden.

"Good to see ya again, sugarcube, it's been a while," said Applejack, tilting her hat. As Lucien walked inside and approached the table, Applejack stood up. "I get the feel that this is gonna be a bit more of a private conversation, and I've gotta get some work done back at the farm, so if you'll pardon me." She started making her way out.

"See you later, AJ, thanks for coming!" Aiden stood and watched her as she left, closing the door with magic once she had cleared the threshold. He sat back down in his chair and gestured to the one previously occupied by Applejack, making eye contact with Lucien.

Lucien took the proffered chair and sat, crossing one leg over the other and leaning forward. "I had you pegged as more of a recluse-type, you know."

Aiden looked to the side, a small smile gracing his features. "Not really, I just never knew how they would react to seeing a human so I would transform myself into a pony before going out, and never for too long at a time." He looked back to Lucien and shrugged in a short motion. "Made it kinda hard to make friends, y'know?"

"Yeah, I guess. I feel like you should have just gone for it like I did, but I understand."

At this, Aiden raised an eyebrow. "Like you did? Y'mean picking a fight with everyone right when you show up?" He chuckled.

Lucien barked out a laugh and turned his head, feeling his face heat up a bit. "Well, maybe not exactly like I did, but being upfront is a good policy dealing with magical creatures."

After a moment of silence, Lucien looked back to see that Aiden had stopped smiling. "Yeah... dealing with magical creatures..." He had produced a small feather from somewhere while Lucien was looking away and was fiddling with it in his fingers.

Realization flashed in Lucien's eyes and he leaned back. "Ah. My bad."

Aiden looked back up, making eye contact once again. "It's fine. It was a while ago, now." He pocketed the feather and leaned forward onto his elbows. "Actually, part of that situation is why I wanted to talk to you."

Lucien, in lieu of saying anything, gestured for him to continue.

"The reason why I ended up on Equis was 'cause of Hunters. They'd been following me an' my familiar for a while and wouldn't let up. I did some research on teleportation and gate magic and figured the best course'a action I had was to just get out of dodge. They... ended up killing her not long before I got out. At my house in Texas." Aiden had grown progressively quieter as he continued to explain, his voice dropping to a hoarse whisper towards the end.

"Yeah, I guessed something had happened." Lucien spoke up, causing Aiden to lift his head. "I passed by your old place when I was back on Earth. It had been some time, of course, but I can remember a magic signature pretty clearly once I see it."

"Hm. What was it like, if y'don't mind me askin'?" Lucien could pick up some strain in his voice, but wasn't able to pin it to any emotion.

"Relatively destroyed. I couldn't really take a look, unfortunately, because Discord showed up right around then and..." Lucien took a deep breath and blew it out. "All I remember not long after that was just being really, really angry."

"I heard about some of the Discord situation from AJ." Lucien watched as Aiden considered his words for a few seconds before he continued. "Shit sucks."

Lucien laughed once, spitefully. "Yeah, shit sucks. Should be better now, at least." It would take him some time to get over that properly, but it will happen eventually. "So, I think I get where you're going with your worries."

Aiden nodded. "I never dealt with Hunters much, just knew that they kept following me when they should'a just given up."

"It's not outside of the realm of possibilities that they followed you here." Aiden's next nod confirmed Lucien's statement. "Well, it wouldn't be the craziest thing I heard them do. How'd you piss them off to make them hunt you down like that anyway?"

"I dunno. I just started learnin' magic in my family's house and kept going with it, and they started comin' after me." Aiden's face stayed flat, nearly devoid of emotion. That wasn't the whole truth, but Lucien wouldn't push it.

"It wouldn't be too out of character for them to just be waiting around with a trap. Find any evidence that they're on Equis? " Lucien asked.

Aiden shook his head. "No. But I can't shake the feeling that they did. Call it intuition or whatever. That's why I asked if you could help, seeing as you're the 'Gatekeeper' now."

Lucien thought for a moment, then shrugged. "I can feel when things are trying to get in, and I can throw things out pretty easily, but I'm not sure if I can just... scan for things that aren't supposed to be on Equis. It's only been a week though, so I dunno."

Aiden's shoulders sagged as he leaned back hard in his chair. "Yeah, that's fine, I guess. I'm just concerned. I don't want those sacks of garbage taking anything else from me." A bite had entered his tone.

"Well, let me know if you catch wind of anything. I'll be keeping an eye out myself." He stood up and started walking towards the door, not hearing any response from Aiden. Opening it and stepping out, he stuck his head back in and called to him, "Have fun with AJ, you hear!" and shut the door before there was another response.

"I think I'll set up a school eventually. Or take an apprentice, at least. The map only calls two of us at a time, after all, and I don't really do too much in Ponyville as 'Princess of Friendship'."

"Big plans, huh? I like it."

Lucien and Twilight were sitting outside a Ponyville cafe, the same one they had been going to for months previous to talk about magic theory and goings-on in their lives. The difference this time, however, was that they sat closer together and held hand in hoof.

"Well, our little vacation to Earth and the fight in Cloudsdale made me consider a lot of things," Twilight said defensively. "What better way to spread the magic of friendship than through education?"

Lucien took a sip of his drink. "I guess practical experience?"

"That's exactly what the school will do though! Offer practical lessons on friendship through education!" Twilight nearly jumped from her seat but pulled back when she nearly lost grasp of Lucien's hand.

Lucien snorted. "So it'll just be a normal school, then."

Twilight froze for a moment. "Well, it's not like I have everything worked out yet, mister inquisitive!" She harrumphed and withdrew her hoof.

"Alright, alright." Lucien made a placating motion and held his hand out again, which Twilight eventually put her hoof back on. "What would you want in an apprentice?"

The question gave Twilight pause, and she hummed while thinking. "Someone who's inquisitive, like you, and has a desire to learn magic, like you, and needs some help making friends, also like you!" She turned her head to look at him, beaming.

"Are you suggesting that I be your apprentice? Because I think I'm pretty good at making friends now, thank you very much."

"I know! Look how much you've learned!" she cooed affectionately while rubbing his head.

Lucien leaned into the sensation. "Hmmph. Now look at me. Made friends so hard that we broke through even that barrier." He took her hoof off his head and gave it a little kiss before placing it back on the table.

Twilight giggled. "Yeah..." The smile faded from her face after a few moments, and she looked back at him, a more serious expression written across her features. "Lucien..."

"Yeah?" He looked back at her, taking note of her tone and quieting down.

"Remember how we promised no more secrets and lies?" she asked softly, keeping her eyes locked on his.

Lucien felt a slight jolt in his body. "Yeah, I remember, why?" He matched her expression.

"Tell me what happened between you and Sandcroft," she stated, her eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly.

"I..." Lucien began, but lost his voice, knowing that the next words he was going to utter would be a nonchalant lie. He took a deep breath and released it, calming down and looking away. "I wasn't sure what he wanted, in the end. He stopped making sense about halfway through the conversation. He offered me a lot, and kept trying to appeal to me. I guess the suave, confident unicorn thing was just an act. He broke down completely." Lucien sifted through his thoughts on the matter, pausing.

"You didn't kill him, did you?" Twilight asked, a note of compassion leaking into her tone.

Lucien bit his lip, then chuckled deeply, hollowly. "No. I couldn't. You damn ponies and your cute faces and bodies."

"Lucien..." She lifted a hoof to his face and guided it upwards until he was looking at her again. "The truth." The barest smile hinted at the corners of her mouth.

"I guess I just spent too much time around ponies, then. And you." He stopped, his voice nearly breaking. "It took every fiber of my being, but I forgave him."

The shot blasted out in the empty space, leaving a sharp ringing in the ears of the room's occupants.

Sandcroft sat on the ground, cowering and staring at the bullet hole dented into the stone next to his head.

Smoke lazily drifted from the barrel of Lucien's gun, dissipating quickly.

"I--"

"Shut up. I don't want to hear it." Lucien leaned forward and grabbed the unicorn by the horn. "I'm stripping you of your power, and then I'm kicking you to the farthest plane of existence I can find, and you will never come near Earth or Equis, ever again."

"I accept! I accept your terms!"

Lucien threw him to the ground, and Sandcroft wasted no time in lighting up his horn with a spell. Keeping the gun leveled on him, Lucien felt a sudden tidal wave of energy slam into his existence. He drank it all in quickly, the exchange taking no more than a few seconds. When it was done, Lucien channeled magic into his hand, igniting it in a fiery green glow.

He walked over to the door and set his hand on its handle, feeling the magic guide the destination. He opened it, and instead of the airship's surface was a grassy meadow with a lone tree providing shade from the sun. Leaving the door open, he walked back to Sandcroft, grabbed him by the withers, and threw him out the door.

Sandcroft flew out, rolling once, then scrambling to his hooves. "Thank--"

Lucien slammed the door.

"It's not my style to make him someone else's problem, but he shouldn't be able to do anything dangerous anymore. I took nearly everything he had." Lucien finished off his water and sat back on the bench.

"Lucien..." Twilight leaned into his stomach and hugged him close. "I'm glad to see that you've finally seen the magic of friendship."

Lucien, hugging her back, looked down at her confusedly. "Friendship? I took his magic and exiled him."

"Shut up, let me have this moment." Twilight squeezed him tighter, prompting a little strained exhale from Lucien.

He laughed and unwound her hooves, grabbing her in a bigger hug.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading.

Author's notes to follow when I actually collect my thoughts.