"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."