//------------------------------//
// Chapter 23: An Unexpected Visitor 
// Story: Ungrounded 
// by Lucien Chance 
//------------------------------//

	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..."