Ungrounded

by Lucien Chance

Rating: teen
Tags: Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Human, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Comedy
Length: 134019

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?

Published 2012-09-18 07:44:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-12-06 04:02:17 UTC

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.

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.

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."

Bronze's ears folded back. "I know, but I can fix it... Just give me some time..." She already looked defeated.

Celestia gave her a look that spoke of pity. "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. It's time you gave up on it."

Gear looked down at her hooves. "I-" she broke off. "I won't." She looked back up with fire in her eyes. "I'm not going to give up on it! I don't care what you have to say! I've spent too much time working on this to throw it away! You're not going to  be able to stop me now, nopony will be able to!" She began to back up after picking up the bronze gauntlet. "Nopony will stand in my way! Not even the Princesses of Equestria!"

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 at calling him normal, "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 that night. She had been up at a drafting table, sketching out her brilliant plans. By that time, there was a mountain of crumpled up papers sitting in a corner where a trash-can used to stand, uncovered.

She was mumbling to herself, "Not that. No, that won't work. RRGH!" 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, ha, ha, ha! 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-magical tech gauntlet. She walked over to the failed 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?"

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 quite a lot. In fact, 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. "You wouldn't really understand I suppose. I've lived this way my whole life. It's just a part of me now." 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

Long story short, the house was pretty f*cking awesome. Any questions?

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 shivered, and she knew right there that those eyes would haunt her dreams until the day she dies.

"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."

"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.

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."

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.

Three hours earlier

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.

32 minutes and 53 seconds later . . .

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.

One: not-so-well-thought-out plan, later . . .

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.

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.

[One Hour Later . . .]

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?!"

Chapter 9: Pulled Under

Alright gais, tis chapter is fo' realz this tiem.

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.

Lucien's vision faded to static, and he fell out of Limbo and into a deep sleep.

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.

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.

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.

Ungrounded

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 finally said dejectedly.

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 Bronze Gear and Princess Celestia. They both looked very happy in the photograph. 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.

End of Arc One.

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.

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.

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.

Chapter 15: Snowfall

WINTER

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.

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."

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."

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."

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.

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."

Short: The Horror Before Hearth's Warming

I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS I DON'T EVEN

"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.

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."

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.

Chapter 22: The Magician

SPRING

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..."

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..."

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, testing a hoof on the squishy surface to check if her cloud-walking spell worked correctly. 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..."

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..."

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.

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!"

Chapter 29: A Sudden, Sharp Turn

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 30: Return

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Interlude: Straight to Voicemail

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 31: Ghost Town

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 32: Brunch and People-Watching

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 33: Gatekeeper

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 34: Necessities

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 35: Ungrounded

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Interlude: Wrong Number

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Finale: Fairy Tales

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Epilogue: ...Have Happy Endings

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

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 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.

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.

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.