//------------------------------// // Chapter 31: Ghost Town // Story: Ungrounded // by Lucien Chance //------------------------------// Lucien The ride down didn't last long. Twilight was skeptical of the lift's state of repair, and of course the metal device hadn't stood the test of time extremely well. Right before they hit the end of the elevator's shaft, it lurched sideways and clunked hard into the ground with a screech of metal grinding on metal. Lucien's forearm slammed into the side of the box as his other arm shot out to grab Twilight, stabilizing both of them from the sudden change in orientation. After a few seconds in their precarious position, the sound of groaning metal ceased. "Are you alright?" he asked. "I'm fine," she said, her voice a little unsteady. He nodded. "Let's get out of here, then." He braced his arm on the side of the elevator shaft and forced the grate open, holding it so Twilight could get out. Once her hooves were on the uneven, damp cobblestone that made up the tunnel they were in, he stepped out himself and allowed the grate to slam shut. Another grinding sound came from the shaft, and they both turned to see the elevator suddenly plummet down, leaving behind a few sparks and a long screech that echoed in their ears for a few moments before it went silent once again. Lucien chuckled, perhaps a bit nervously. "Well we made it," he said, giving a little half-shrug to Twilight. "We did. And hopefully we won't have to go back that way," Twilight replied, looking at the remains of the lift. "Nope. From here it's smooth sailing through the Labyrinth until we have to go back up to change tunnels. Should be about 10 minutes of walking," he pointed, "that way." "Alright. Is there any way you can clean yourself off? You kinda stink, and you're definitely sticky. It's a little gross," Twilight said, turning her nose up as they began walking. "Uh, yeah, I think. It's been a while since I've actually needed to use something to clean off." He took off his backpack and held it before him as he rummaged through the contents. "Ah! Here we go!" Twilight expected to see some form of spellcraft, or at the very least some technological gadget that would be able to spray the gunk off his clothes. What she got, however, was... well... not that. Lucien withdrew a fistful of wet wipes with a smile on his face, and then set to work scrubbing the crab bits off his person. Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes locked on him in disbelief. Lucien, after a few seconds of walking and rubbing, noticed her absence and turned around to see Twilight giving him perhaps the hardest deadpan stare she had ever given. It took barely five seconds of eye contact for Lucien to start squirming. "Stop looking at me like that," he managed to say through his discomfort. "You..." she began. "Don't do it." Lucien lifted his arm up over his head and began scrubbing his surprisingly gooey armpits. "With every spell you know..." she continued. "Stop iiiiiiit." Lucien threw one wipe on the ground and moved onto the next one. "You don't know..." she said, a dangerous grin now on her face. "Noooooooo..." Lucien moaned, sinking to the floor in despair. "How to use a basic cleaning spell?" Twilight finished with some sort of sadistic mirth. "I'm too busy to memorize one of thooooose. Besides, who needs a cleaning spell when you have a shower at home?" He pushed himself up off the ground and looked down at the unicorn. She still had a shit-eating grin on her face. "Stop smiling at me and clean me up, would you?" "So where are we going, anyway?" Twilight asked. "I don't really know anything about Earth's geography, but having a name for our next location would be nice." "Well," Lucien began, leaning his head back to look at the ceiling as they walked. The tunnel had changed from damp cobblestone to dried grass and dirt walls just a minute or two after the wet wipes incident. They had been in the tunnel for about five minutes total, beginning when they first took the elevator down. He had absolutely no idea where they currently were, in terms of being on the surface, but he supposed that they must, at the very least, be through the Arizona/Utah intersection by that point. "I think we're out of the first state by now, and we're headed to an area in the state of Colorado called Mount Eolus. I've traveled this section of the Labyrinth before, a long time ago, but I was going the opposite direction, so I'm not really sure." "Alright." Twilight nodded. "Where are we going after that?" came her next question. "This is our longest leg of the trip, with the shortest amount of time on the surface. The connecting tunnel is somewhere at the base of the mountain, and from there we'll go down south to the state of Texas, a city called Humble. There should be a tunnel leading from there to the east, bringing us to the city of Columbia in Southern Carolina. The state university in the city has the last tunnel that'll take us back to my home in northern New York." "Yeah. Alright. How much longer do we, uh, have to go down here? We've been walking for, like, fourty hours now." "Hours? It's been five minutes..." Lucien looked at Twilight with concern. She was blinking heavily, and walking on tired hooves. "Are you alright?" She turned to look at him with sleepy eyes. "Yeah, mhm, I'm alriight," she slightly slurred. "Yeah, I don't think you're alright. We're leaving. Right now." He looked around at the walls and ceiling, trying to remember how close the nearest exit is. "Nah, m'fine. Let's keep..." Twilight's eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped to the ground. "Right now! We are leaving! Time to go!" Lucien quickly hopped over to Twilight's limp body, picked her up, and threw her over her shoulder. He looked up to the ceiling and braced his legs. "I don't care where we are, we're getting out, now!" He gathered as much energy as he could and thrust it all upward. With a cracking and crumbling sound, the earth above them split open at an angle just low enough to walk up. After making sure Twilight was secure on his shoulder, he jumped up with a quick burst of magic, then sprinted up the tunnel. As he began running, the earth started crumbling back into position behind him, the Labyrinth closing up the artificial entrance he had made. Channeling more magic into his free hand, he shot a small ball of light to illuminate the narrow tunnel as he was carving it upward. After a minute of frantic running, the pair finally burst out onto the surface, Lucien getting a few seconds of air time due to his magically enhanced sprint. He landed squarely on the ground, then dropped to his knees, setting Twilight down gently. He watched her chest rise and fall for a few moments, ensuring that she was still breathing. With a huff, he sat down hard, taking a moment to look up at the partly cloudy, blue sky. He leaned back down over Twilight and examined her face. There was some dirt marking it, and a slight sheen of sweat coating her forehead. He brushed her mane out of her eyes and sighed. That wasn't how that was supposed to go at all. He laid back again, this time putting his back flat on the reddish dirt, his backpack and sword falling to the side. "Wait, why is the sky blue?" He sat up again, suddenly alarmed. There was no way it was already morning. Night had just fallen on California's coast, and there's only a one-hour time zone difference. Sure, time and space worked differently down in the Labyrinth, but the last time he made that trip the time distortion was only off by an hour or two. "Time and space..." "Hold on, this isn't Mount Eolus." He grabbed a handful of the red dust and looked at his surroundings. It was an old town, dilapidated and only half-modernized. Like the townspeople began renovations but decided to stop halfway. What was left was half ghost town and half commercialized city, ramshackle shacks pressed right up against 21st century stores and houses. He recognized the landscape. It was an old tourist trap back before the outlying cities of California were evacuated and everyone fled either to San Francisco or Los Angeles. Calico, he believed the town was once called. There was old magic below the ground, a feeling he could never misplace. It brought him back to a looming figure in his past. He felt his thoughts grow dark and his brow furrowed as old memories bubbled to the surface of his mind... The Church wasn't a faction he could ever see himself believing in, or pledging to, or however it was they worked. Based off his encounters with their... zealots he figured that it wasn't something that he could do. A faction that found strength in their faith. To what deity, he could never tell. Their higher-ups were always secretive, and unwilling to share knowledge. He personally viewed them as hypocrites, preaching transparency and eradication of the blights on Earth, but he could never be sure what side they were on. Sometimes he'd fight alongside members against monsters, sometimes he'd fight against members declaring he was unfit to exist. But no matter what he felt regarding their loyalties or their beliefs, he couldn't deny their strength. Members of The Church were some of the fiercest allies and enemies he'd ever encountered. He didn't know where all the power came from, or why they chose to utilize their strange, unwieldy weapons, but he knew that it was all effective. They found some sort of magic in the gods of old, and over time Lucien learned to sense that power. He knew he would never wield it, but he could feel it. And Calico was saturated in it. It gave him a sort of uneasy feeling; the hairs on the back of his neck rose, and his body remained tense. He and Twilight couldn't stay there. Regardless of what condition Twilight was in, there was no way that they would rest in such a hotspot for magical energy. Especially given how the red dust that covered the area was new, compared to when he saw the town last. Something, or two somethings perhaps, had recently made use of Calico's energy, and he wasn't keen to meet whatever it was. He gathered his things and picked Twilight up again after checking her heart rate and breath. She seemed to be stabilizing, but she still hadn't woken up. Magical interference wasn't unheard of in similar places and, after the problems they had encountered in the Labyrinth, the energy saturating Calico could be what was keeping Twilight under. It wouldn't be a long trek down the hillside. Calico was wedged between two steep crests, but the elevation wasn't too high. Walking right out of the town and out of the magic field it was emanating wouldn't take very long at all. Maybe then he would be able to wake Twilight— "Friend or foe?" A voice cut through the wind. Lucien stopped in his tracks. "Friend?" he called out hesitantly. "That a question, or a statement?" the voice called again. It was as gruff and dry as the air that surrounded them. "Depends on who's asking. A friend wouldn't kill me on sight." He didn't know who might be in such an area, but he knew for a fact that they would be armed. Given that the voice was seemingly coming from one of the buildings, he was pretty certain that they had a gun pointed at his back. Though he didn't believe that the man could see Twilight from that angle. Quietly and quickly, he created a domed barrier around himself, invisible to the naked eye, save a slight shimmer in the air and the dust blowing against it from the wind. "That is very true. So lemme ask, what's your business around here?" the voice came again. Swiveling his head halfway to the left, he was certain that he had pinpointed where the voice was coming from. "As hard as it may be to believe, just passing through." He definitely couldn't see Twilight, or the barrier he created. As he continued to ask questions, Lucien put together a clearer picture of who was holding him at gunpoint. "Passing through? You sure about that?" This was likely one of the few, probably crazy individuals that decided that the oncoming apocalypse of monsters invading Earth and killing millions wasn't enough to make them abandon their house in Nowheresville. As much as it scared him to admit, there were still those out there that didn't believe that fighting for the survival of humanity was worth moving away from their property. "Judging by that invisible sword on your back and the barrier you have around you, I'd say you're doing a lot more around here than 'just passing through'." Lucien's throat dried up. He immediately spun around, eyes darting to the shacks across from the small building he knew the man was hiding in. As soon as he confirmed he would be out of sight, he dove forward into a roll. Before he hit the ground, he flash teleported, coming out safely behind cover. A shot rang out and pierced straight through the barrier he had created, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Lucien was hit by the backlash of having a construct destroyed, his head pierced by a sharp ache. He turned his head to the left to see the fiery magical energy, instead of dissipating into the air, get sucked toward the building the man was in. "Oh. That's not good." Lucien's image of the man had been shattered once already, when he had recognized the spells Lucien was using. For those few, brief moments he assumed that he was engaged with another magician that was wielding a gun. The image that replaced that in his mind was much, much worse. Rogue magicians that attacked others like them weren't entirely uncommon. Some people just keep to themselves with their magic, or use it to maybe terrorize others or something. It was never Lucien's problem to deal with them, given that he normally allied with the three factions that wanted to deal with the real problem Earth was facing. Elimination of any Rogues was something that The Church seemed to usually handle. But there was another group, one that many knew existed, but none knew much about. The Hunters. "It seems we're at an impasse!" Lucien yelled out from behind cover. Magic wouldn't be a very viable in the way of defenses for this fight, given the way that bullet obliterated his barrier. While normally he would find a way to blitz the guy and end the fight quickly, this time around he had a comatose Twilight to worry about as well. And he hadn't even considered if there were more Hunters lurking around. "Nope, no impasse here. Just you, me, and whatever that freak thing you're carrying around is." "She's a unicorn, I'll have you know!" Lucien yelled back, subconsciously resting a hand on Twilight. "Doesn't matter to me, you're sick in the head. Associatin' yourself with some lowlife creature like that," he called to Lucien. "She's not some creature, you idiot! She's..." He looked over to her. What was she to him? He didn't have the luxury of taking time for a flashback to all the memorable moments they shared, but he knew that she meant a lot more to him than just about anyone else in his life. "An abomination is what it is. Neither of you have a place here, and I'm gonna make sure you don't get out of here alive!" he finished with a shout of anger. Lucien flinched as a bullet pierced through the wood next to his head, whizzing right past him. Charging him with a sword drawn was a great way to get filled with holes, so that option was out. Magic wouldn't be possible while he was able to counter and nullify any spells that required channeling in the area, not to mention that his gun would pierce any shields he conjured. His only options in terms of magic were flash-casts, spells with negligible cast times like short range teleports and kinetic pushes. He definitely used the former a lot more than the latter. He drew his sword, looked at it for a moment, then changed it to his chakrams. He set them down on the ground and removed his backpack. He unzipped it, rummaged around for a moment, then withdrew a small handgun. He pulled back on the slide, made sure a bullet was in the chamber, then flicked the safety off and on again. He strapped the matching holster around his thigh. Another bullet chunked a piece of wood from his poor cover. Lucien secured the pistol in its holster, then stood up with his chakrams. He opened his palms and let the weapons gather speed, hovering in the air above his hands. It wouldn't be entirely inaccurate to say that he had no idea if what he was planning would work or not. Regardless of how it would play out, he wasn't going to die to some bigot with a rifle. He still had work to do in Equestria. Casting aside his hesitation, he brought his arms back, palms downward, then launched them forward. The chakrams flew out, then curved hard to the left. Without waiting to see whether they would hit their mark or not, he spun around and looked toward the next shack over. In a quick, fluid motion he rolled and flash teleported simultaneously, appearing behind his new cover. He stood up again, and his sword reappeared on his back, signaling that the chakrams finished their trip somewhere. "You're gonna have to try harder than that, son," the voice called out again. The crack of a bullet firing hit Lucien's ears, and he saw more wood splinter where he was before. The bullet dug into the dust dangerously close to Twilight's comatose form, a sight that filled Lucien with fear and anger. But the fact that the bullet hit the ground so close to the wall meant that he's not on the ground floor of the building he's in. He looked up the wall he was leaning on and noticed an open window. With a quick burst of magic, he boosted himself up to it and vaulted in. He quietly crept along the creaking floorboards towards the opposite window, facing the middle ground between him and the gunman. "What, nothing else to say? Or did that last one finally shut you up?" He was going to have to hurry up and end the fight before the man figured out he had moved. If he was able to channel magic then he could just project his voice from his first cover, but that option was unfortunately out. Luckily, he had some experience in non-magical combat. Lucien poked his head out the window slightly to plan his next move. He could see in the building across the way and to the right, the barrel of a rifle poked out between a few slats of a boarded-up window. Maybe he could get across the open area with a teleport, but that might put him in view of the man. Distracting him by throwing his chakrams wouldn't work a second time either. He would just have to hope for the best. He crept to the wall opposite the window and took a deep breath. Taking a moment to check for any holes in the floor, he braced himself for the worst. He dashed forward as silently as he could, which wasn't very, and teleported as he leapt out the window— —And landed on the ground right next to the man's hiding place. Lucien braced his back against the concrete wall and listened for movement. From up above him and through the wall he could hear the Hunter stomping across the floor. "Shit, he must've seen me." Dropping into a crouch, Lucien moved around to the back of the building. His boots crunched on the red dust and gravel, the only sound other than the wind to break the tense moment. His heart pounded and blood rushed in his ears. He stopped at the corner and listened a second time. Nothing. He poked his head around the corner slowly, drawing his handgun with his left hand. There was nothing behind the building save a rusted metal staircase leading to a closed door on the second floor. He crept forward and up the stairs, each step eliciting a small creak of protest, but not loud enough to alert the Hunter, given the lack of noise. The Hunter had gone quiet, Lucien abruptly realized. He had stopped shouting taunts, and there was no motion from inside. Without the ability to channel magic, Lucien couldn't check through the wall to find out where he was hiding. Normally he'd be able to check the flow of magic and find his aura through the wall, but the Hunters had found a way around that a long time ago with special marks sewn into their clothing. He would just have to trust his intuition and his luck. He had no way of knowing what the floor inside would look like, either, given how he wouldn't be able to peek in without risking getting shot if the Hunter was aiming right at the door. Taking a quick breath to steel himself, he kicked the door open, then threw himself against the wall next to it, catching hardly a glimpse of the interior. He waited a moment, pressed up against the wall, but no shot came. Taking another breath, he leaned his head just inside the frame to catch a look inside. The interior was mostly dark, save the few scattered beams that filtered in through the boarded windows. Dust hovered gently in the filters of light, blurring Lucien's view of the back of the room. There was a battered wooden desk just inside the room; it seemed like it was pressed up against the door but it slid when he kicked it open. The back-left corner was mostly obscured by a waist-high wooden wall, a meeting table seemingly taking up most of the room inside, if what he could see through the break in the little wall was any indication. He didn't want to risk sticking his head in more to look on the right side of the floor. He would just have to trust his instinct and his luck. Without another thought, he backed up to the busted railing on the side of the staircase, then ran forward. As he crossed the threshold of the room, he slid to his knees and flashed safely to the segment of the room with the conference table. As he came to a stop, hands and knees on the ground, a bullet whizzed by his head, embedding itself in the wall behind him. "Well he knows where I am now. Now I just need to find where he is." "So, uh, how's it going?" he asked lamely. There was no response from the other side of the room. Not even the sounds of the Hunter adjusting his position. It seemed that he knew Lucien still had no idea where he was. Lucien turned around to put his back against the aged wooden surface of the conference table, facing the wall with the new bullet hole. He drew his pistol from its holster on his thigh and slid out the magazine. He counted eight bullets, then pulled back on the slide, ejecting a ninth. Catching it easily, he put it back in the magazine, reloaded, and rechambered the shot. "Riiiight, so," he called out to the other side of the room, "playing hide-and-seek isn't nearly as fun when you don't give me a hint." He dared to peek his head up from under his cover just a bit, trying to get even a glimpse of the layout of the other side of the room. And glimpse it he did, before nearly catching a bullet through the eye in return. His back hit the ground again, hard. He took a deep breath. The other side of the room was separated by a thin wooden wall, it seemed. There were several gaping holes in it, however, giving the floor's occupant a clear view of the few hiding places Lucien could use for cover. Lucien was able to catch the barest hint of a muzzle flash as the Hunter fired the last time, tracing it back to the back-right of the room. Judging by his accuracy while shooting at him outside versus close range now, he must be using a scoped rifle, putting Lucien at a distinct close-range advantage. "You're no fun, you know that?" Lucien called out again. Then, suddenly, he stood up from cover and fired into the gap in the wall twice, before falling to the right and rolling into a flash teleport. The Hunter's rifle roared as a bullet nearly scraped him through his motions. Not giving him a chance to breathe, Lucien leaned over his waist-high cover and fired into the wall another three times, only able to approximate where the Hunter was. As he ducked down again, another bullet slammed into the wall opposite him. "Only one of us is getting out of here alive, and it ain't gonna be you!" the Hunter screamed, finally breaking his silence. The rifle banged again, sending another bullet to penetrate through Lucien's cover and miss him by inches. Lucien, electing not to respond, leaned over to the left and fired at the Hunter again. "Your aim's awful!" the Hunter shouted. "So is your's!" Lucien shouted back. There was a tense moment of silence following their interaction. Another bang heralded another shot that flew into the wall behind Lucien's cover. Lucien slid the magazine out of his pistol and took stock of his bullets again. He only had a measly three left, counting the one currently chambered. He would have to either get more accurate, or cheat. What a no-brainer. After that, several things happened. Lucien sprang up from his cover suddenly, taking a moment to fire without aiming at the Hunter's location. Simultaneously, Lucien's other hand moved behind him and released a quick pulse of energy, propelling him forward as he vaulted over his cover. The Hunter fired again, and this time he didn't miss his mark. A sharp pain sprang from Lucien's right arm, the bullet tearing through his flesh. Using the momentum from his vault over his cover, Lucien launched into a flash teleport, putting him on his feet running straight at the Hunter. Almost in slow motion, the man scrambled to rechamber a shot in his bolt-action rifle. Lucien, mid-stride, raised his pistol to eye-level and fired once. His aim was off, the bullet ricocheting off the Hunter's rifle, disrupting his frantic attempts to pull the bolt back. Lucien dove to the left suddenly, altering his course to flash teleport through a gap in the wall to the left of the Hunter. Lucien came through cleanly, rolled on the ground, then came up in a kneeling position. He saw the Hunter finally, a weathered, grizzly man hunched over a rifle, the barrel aimed right at him, fear clear as day in his eyes. Lucien aimed his pistol and, without a second thought, pulled the trigger. Twilight When Twilight awoke, the sun hung low in the sky. A dry, dusty air brushed through her fur and brought to her attention just how parched she was. She leaned her head up slowly, only afterward realizing that it had been resting on a folded article of clothing. After looking at it for a moment in confusion, she suddenly recalled all that had happened. She had passed out underground, in the Labyrinth. Something down that had been in her mind, battering at her senses and mental defenses. It eventually became too much, and she had succumbed to the strain, but she knew Lucien must have gotten her out. Speaking of Lucien, where was— She felt a hand caress her side gently. "I'm right here," she heard Lucien say. "W-where's here?" she asked, her voice cracking due to her dry throat. "We didn't make it all the way to the mountain," Lucien said. She turned her head around to look at him. As soon as she did, she gasped in shock. His right arm and his shirt were covered in streams of blood, blood that clearly originated from the small hole present on the side of his upper-arm. Lucien's face was pale, his eyes half-closed. His hair, usually somewhat messy anyway, was haggard and coated in a red dust. In fact, his entire left side was dusty. "What happened?" Twilight asked after struggling to swallow once. Lucien averted his eyes. Twilight immediately knew something bad had happened while she was unconscious. Even so, as he spent the next few minutes explaining how she had passed out in the Labyrinth and how he had forced his way up to the surface only to be engaged in a lethal gunfight with an unknown assailant, she could only think about how relieved she was that he was fine. His explanation of his wound left her with a sort of hollow rage, a desire for retribution that she knew had already been taken by Lucien, given the fact that they weren't under attack any longer. She didn't desire to know the details of how Lucien... killed him. Lucien had told her enough about how his world worked to know that, whatever the outcome of their fight, Lucien wouldn't have shown mercy to the man. It was something that she could accept, but never find a way to understand. Taking another's life, regardless of the reason, was nearly unfathomable to her by Equestria's moral code; maybe even her entire planet's moral code, if her knowledge of the other races was accurate. Regardless of how she felt about it, she had to know one thing. "Why?" "'Why'?" Lucien asked, somehow confused by the question. "Why would someone just attack another out of the blue?" Twilight specified, her voice steely. Lucien leaned back, his eyes remaining half-shut by exhaustion, but she noticed the fire enter and illuminate them. "The Hunters," he spat. "A faction, if you would even label it that, of those who believe that the gift of magic isn't something that humans should possess. They've been around just as long as the oldest faction, and they've been hunting down magicians the entire time, utilizing brutal techniques and anti-magic weaponry to do whatever they could to make magic extinct. Some of them even use magic themselves, but only after allowing themselves to be disfigured and beaten, to ensure that they would not survive after their usefulness to the Hunters ran out. "It's disgusting," Lucien continued. "They're the biggest hypocrites and terrorists this planet's ever seen. People are out there fighting literal nightmares, and these idiots have committed themselves to fighting back against the human race." Lucien reached behind his back and grabbed something. When his hand came back into view, she saw that he was holding a ceramic jar that was decorated in runes the color and texture of ash. "This is one of their inventions. I don't know what they named it, if it even has a name, but its only purpose is to render a magician useless." To demonstrate, his hand violently ignited in a green fire, fueled by his anger. Then, to Twilight's displeasure, the flames were sucked downward off his hand, funneling quickly into the jar. The runes on the ceramic glowed in a harsh red light. Twilight didn't know what they said, but they gave off an aura that set her on edge. "There isn't a person out there that doesn't know what a Hunter is, and there isn't a person out there that isn't scared shitless by their existence." Twilight winced at the profanity, but listened as he stood up and continued. "There weren't many times where I had to deal with them myself or with others, but I've lost friends to Hunters in the past. They come. They kill. They disappear. Cowards." Lucien dropped the jar on the wooden floor, then slammed his fist down on it, smashing it to pieces. As he did so, a small burst of magic energy was released from the shards of ceramic, swirling upward and fading into Lucien's aura. He sighed, finally, then turned his eyes back to Twilight. "How are you feeling?" he asked, the anger in his eyes turning to concern. "Probably better than you," she said, her eyes motioning to the worrying wound in Lucien's arm. "Oh, right, that!" Lucien followed her gaze and looked at it himself. "I would've fixed it earlier, but I wanted you to see first-hand what the Hunters have in their arsenal. If we're gonna cross the country, then there's a fair chance that we might encounter another one. Knowing what you're up against is half the battle." He channeled some magic into his hand again, then held it over the wound. After holding it there for a few moments, he removed his hand to show that the hole had closed up completely. "I was lucky that it went through clean," he said. "Getting a bullet out with magic can be pretty painful." 'He talks about it like it's an everyday occurrence,' Twilight thought, before realizing that it probably was for him. Or, rather, it used to be. While he did talk about Earth a lot, she didn't know many specifics about his life on the planet. Thinking about it more, she wasn't too sure she wanted to know more about his history with regards to fighting. "So what do we do now?" she asked, before her stomach grumbled. A blush made its way onto her face as moved a hoof to cover her belly. Lucien cracked a smile. "I'd say whatever we do next, it should probably involve food. I'm pretty hungry too." As if to underscore his statement, his stomach growled even louder than Twilight's had. She giggled, lighting her horn up and cleaning all the dust off the two of them. She didn't know when she had gotten so dirty, but it had been stuck to her coat for long enough. "Alright, lead the way," she said brightly. The smile disappeared from Lucien's face as he stood. "I'm just going to tell you straight up, we're going back into the Labyrinth." Twilight's face fell as the words left his mouth. "W-what? Why? We just came out of there!" Twilight exclaimed, not at all eager to experience all that mental stress again. Lucien had a displeased expression on his face. "I don't want to take the risk either, Twilight, but it's the fastest way to get to the next place. We're not in danger of starving yet, but we need food. Besides," his voice went quiet suddenly, "this town... there's an old magic here. It's... unnerving." He had dropped to nearly a whisper. A chill ran down Twilight's spine. She had felt the influence of another energy too, of course, but she hadn't known what to really make of it. It didn't feel unnerving to her, but it didn't feel comforting either. She had just dismissed it as a lingering feeling after her collapse in the Labyrinth. She didn't know what about it set Lucien off so badly, but she wasn't too keen to see if there was something deeper to it. Even her curiosity needed to have limitations sometimes. She briefly debated in her mind whether attempting to persuade Lucien in favor of them just staying the night to rest up after their ordeals, but decided it probably wouldn't work. She could see it in his body language as he packed up the makeshift blanket he made for her that he was spooked by whatever he felt here. "Okay. Where are we going, then?" Lucien looked up, somewhat surprised. He probably thought she was going to question him about it. "There should be another entrance to the Labyrinth at the top of this town, where it intersects with the mountain. We'll take that and head southeast. As soon as I can be sure we're in New Mexico, we can get out. That state still has a lot of operating cities, last I checked, so we should be able to find a place to rest and get food there." "How long do you think we'll have to be down there for?" Twilight asked, slightly anxious. "It shouldn't be more than ten minutes," he replied, motioning for her to join him as he walked out the door. "Ten minutes?!" Twilight exclaimed as they walked down the metal staircase at the back of the building. "You said we were only down there for five before I passed out!" "I know," he said firmly. "We're just gonna have to make it work out. But trust me," he spun around, kneeled, and placed a hand on her side, "you'll be fine. I'll make sure of it." A small blushed developed on Twilight's face as she noted how close his face was to her. His eyes conveyed a sort of strong certainty that she found it difficult to remain skeptical of their success. "Alright," she finally said resolutely. They walked across the dusty, ruined landscape for a few silent minutes. At one point, the influence Twilight felt in the back of her mind grew stronger. They walked carefully over some circular fragments of stone embedded in the ground. She had never seen Lucien look so rattled before. As they moved on, however, he seemed to get better. Before long, they reached the junction Lucien told her about. Wordless, the pair looked at each other, nodded firmly, then began their descent.