When Lucien turned thirteen, it was time for him to begin his advanced education; and as an important stallion normally did, he had to pick a respected pony to mentor him.
“So Lucien, have you been thinking about your mentorship lately?” his father asked, who was standing in the doorway to his colt's bedroom. The walls were adorned with swords of various origins, as well as posters of some infamous pony bands, such as Marilyn Mareson, Insane Colt Posse, and for some reason: The Village Ponies.
“Not really dad. Can you give me a list and I’ll pick one?”, said the nihilistic young stallion, turning down his music box and laying on the bed.
“Uh, sure, I suppose. I’ll be back with a list of some renowned mentors from across Equestria,” Hanz said, leaving his son to his own devices.
Hanz returned after a few hours with a long list of potential candidates for Lucien. “Thanks dad," he said waving him off, "I’ll let you know when I’ve come to a decision!”
Hanz trotted back downstairs, and then Lucien got up, and pinned the list to the wall with tacks. He then pulled some darts out of his toy box. Taking aim, he threw the first dart and missed “Dang it, I’ve always sucked at this.” He sighed and took a deep breath, closing his eyes and tossing the next one – it just barely landed on the list near the bottom.
“Yes! I hit one!”, he said gleefully while trotting over to the list with a look of pride. “Hmm….let’s see who my mentor shall be.” He looked down the list at a name that had been placed out of alphabetic order, perhaps in hopes that Lucien would not pick this pony.
“Hello there, Mrs. ‘Twilight Sparkle’, looks like you shall be my mentor.”With that, young Lucien went back to relaxing on his bed until a few hours later
“Lucy, dinner is waiting for you downstairs!”, his mom called. The name “Lucy” made him cringe in embarrassment, but he hopped out of bed and headed downstairs to the dining room, and sat at the table.
“Ohh, steaks, thanks mom!”, he said, licking his muzzle and then digging in
“Only the best for my Hanzy and Lucy!”, said Pinkamena as she sat by Hanz and the family enjoyed their dinner – that was, until Hanz asked his son about the list.
“So son, have you picked a mentor now that you have that list?”, Hanz asked, chewing on some steak.
Lucien smiled and nodded, taking a sip of water. “Yeah dad, I think I’m going to choose Twilight Sparkle, from Ponyville”. Hanz gasped and started choking on the food, falling out of the chair.
“W-What?! Why her?”, he said, hoof-punching himself in the belly to fix his choking.
“I dunno, I don’t know any of those ponies, and her name sounds funny.”, Lucien said, shrugging.
Hanz sighed and looked over at Pinkie, then back at his son
“Well, if that’s really what you want, then ok, son. But I have to warn you, she’s not exactly….sane. Even if she is the smartest mare in Equestria.”
Lucien laughed a little and finished his steak “Then it sounds like my mentorship shall be fun, huh?” With that, he got out of his seat and went back to his room to start packing his bags, knowing that the day for him to leave was coming soon.
*One Week Later*
Lucien was dropped off at the train station. He waved good-bye to his worried father, and happy mother who were leaving him in hopes that he would learn many life lessons in his time in Ponyville. He stepped onto the train and the doors soon closed after the other passengers had boarded. Taking his seat, he heard the most aggravating sound any pony would ever hear in their life: the sound of a foal crying from the seat behind his.
Lucien sighed and tried his best to be nice “Ma’am, would you please set your foal to vibrate mode?” He looked behind him and saw an overweight zebra mare glaring at him
“Ohhhh hell naw, you do not tell me how to raise mah baby. This foal here, along with the other seventeen at home are momma’s little money makers. Celestia sends me a big-ass check each month for having them!”
The train rolled into a tunnel and the cabin went dark, and when it exited the tunnel, the zebra and her foal were mysteriously absent from their seat, with Lucien relaxing in his.
“I always wanted some nice boots, and I bet nopony else has real zebra-skin boots!” the colt said, kicking his feet softly with his new boots on. He then took a book from his suitcase and laid back “Rocket to Insanity? Sounds like this will be a fun read!”
Time passed by as Lucien read his book, and before he knew it, the train had arrived in Ponyville. The young colt stepped off the train, looking at a piece of parchment.
“Ponyville library – giant tree in the center of town.” Only a foal could miss something like that, he thought to himself; so he trotted happily down the streets of Ponyville, until he smelt smoke in the air. Lucien looked up and saw a large pillar of smoke coming from the giant tree in town, so he galloped to its source.
“What the hay!?”
Standing outside of the burning tree house was a purple unicorn with a frizzy, uncombed mane. She was laughing maniacally as she watched the tree go up in flames
“Dear Princess Celestia, Today I learned a new lesson about friendship! Friendship is not fire-proof!”
The purple mare looked around “Spike? Did you get that?” She glared around, realizing that he was nowhere to be found. “Dang it, so Fluttershy died for nothing, it seems!” She dropped to her knees and growled, before noticing Lucien, who looked rather frightened
“Oh, hi there little colt! Whats your name?” Her eye twitched and she gave a deranged laugh
“Uhm… My name is Lucien, are you…” He looked down at his parchment “Twilight Sparkle?”
She nodded and got back onto all four hooves “Why yes, are you my new pupil I was informed about?”, she said as she trotted over to Lucien.
He bit his lip and slowly nodded “Yes, I’m Lucien. I'm supposed to be staying with you while you teach me, but it would seem your house just burned down. Will this be a problem?” He looked behind her at the tree that was nearly entirely ashes now.
She shook her head and smiled “Of course not! We can stay at Fluttershy's house! She won’t be needing it anymore.”
“Well…Ok then, Mrs. Sparkle. After you.”, Lucien said, wondering if this mare was fit to even be a mentor.
Twilight rubbed her hooves together like only a true villain could, and turned her back to him “Good, with this little colt living with me, I shall surely learn all there is about friendship! Take that, Dad!....Uhm….I mean, Princess! Yes, that will work.”
Lucien tugged on her tail and she looked back “Excuse me Miss, but will you be doing that often?”
She nodded and swished her tail “Yes, little colt. Yes I will.”