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.