>She regains her composure
>"Yes, everything is fine. In fact, Anonymous was about to leave, please show him out."
>The guards step forward
>"Come with us, sir."
>You shake a hoof off of your shoulder and follow them back through the Labyrinth of hallways
>The chariot is waiting to take you back to Ponyville
>So, they're basically going to put you on probation?
>But, how are they going to keep an eye on you?
>Wait, remember, Twilight is a student of Celestia, she may spy on you
>Or really any of the residents, so long as they are loyal to her
>And they essentially consider her their god, or in this case, goddess
>Now it makes sense, why the equestrians were your enemy
>But they're giving you a chance to redeem yourself, aren't they?
>Maybe you should take it
>Or you can let fate decide
>You enter the chariot, and the guards again carry you through the air
>And the fact that these pegasi can walk on clouds reminds you of your venture to create another type of magic
>If you find out that they are in fact a real threat, and you should fight them, you'll show them what a human with enough imagination can do
>And your options are unlimited if this healing-factor sticks around
>Perhaps you should note today as well, and possibly find anything related to it
>If you make your own magic, you might be able to fix those annoying spy-flames in your room
>But she doesn't want you to figure out what your past is
>Or to explore this healing any further
>However, curiosity is more pleasant to listen to than fear
>Fear only works so well, after all
>The chariot hits the ground, a guard opens the door nearest to you, and you step out
>The guards leave without looking back, heading off back to Canterlot
>You look around, and see they dropped you off in front of Rarity's place
>Now, you can get to the bottom of this
>The door opens, and out walks Twilight and her friends
>"Anon! There you are!"
>Oh, right, them
>"I was a bit worried, care to tell me what happened?"
>So, she wants to know what happened?
>It's best to not be too paranoid
"Oh, she just called me in for a quick chat, that's all."
>It was indeed quick
"I want to do a bit more research, don't worry, I'll take time to wander around town for a while."
>As you make gestures while you speak, you notice that your skin is much more tan then when you were last outside
>Interesting
>"Are you sure? I like books and all, but it's good to come outside every once in a while."
>Persistent, isn't she?
"I'm sure, just give me some time alone and I'll... run around the town or something."
>She pauses, thinking about something
>"Oh, and you missed a sonic rain-boom!"
>Damn, you were sort of looking forward to that
"Well, that's too bad. I'll make sure not to miss the second one. Now, I'll be heading on home, see ya."
>You wave, and begin walking
>Now, that you can think to yourself, how to keep all of them in the dark about your plans?
>Well, perhaps when testing for this healing factor stuff, you can pretend that it's an accident
>And Twilight will probably buy that you're just studying the Equestrian history and magic
>But just a few more answers, and you'll have working magic, free of charge for all
>To anyone else, it will just look like circles with strange symbols on a paper
>But when activated, will act just like normal magic
>And if your calculations are correct, they ought to be boundless in the amount of power you can put into them
>But if that's the case, not everyone will be able to have them
>And after that, it's back off to the past, more sleep and more of an idea of what happened before that god awful place you where in for a hundred years
>The best clue you have so far is that you were an enemy of the equestrians
>Maybe a Prisoner of War?
>Whatever it was, no way in hell are you ever going back
>You open the door to the library, and immediately seek out the nearest and latest magic book
>Anything about healing factors? Non-magical creatures?
>The books told only so much, but it should be enough
>What you need now are some potions to give birth to the magic papers
>To give your idea some life
>Perhaps tomorrow you can find out about anyone who can make potions of magical quality
>It's exciting to be able to finally realize a dream
>But as always, you keep it bottled up
>Now, about this healing factor, and the dreams of your past
>Or are they visions?
>And the fact that Celestia seemed... intimidated? Or annoyed when you glared at her
>This is quite a hassle, can't even enjoy yourself in this worry-free place
>But, your curiosity must be quenched
>The front door opens, and you stand up from the desk and see that it's Twilight
>And notice how dark out it is
>"Oh, hey Anon, you're still up?"
>She walks over and observes the book you're reading
>"Glad to see you're at least using your time wisely. I'm gonna go to bed, it's late."
>She walks over to her bed and climbs in
>Well, you can ask her about any potion makers tomorrow
>And it is late, so as to be more inconspicuous in your self-studying, you can just continue with these dreams
>Hopefully, it will be something else about that factory
>You open the door, and activate a lantern
>The mess from last night is still here, but that won't be a problem
>You quickly pick up most of the papers, organizing them, and stacking them
>Maybe you can make some decoy papers in case "someone" snoops around in here
>At least you can busy your thoughts with plans, and hopefully some other random thoughts find their way into your head
>Sleep will come easier, that way
>You deactivate the lantern, and get into your bed
>The bed still feels nice, especially after 100 years of darkness and... who knows what
>Never going back to that place
>Never going back
>Never
>...
>Without the constant rumbles and distant grinding of machines, it becomes quite quiet, save for the roaring winds not too far away
>There appears to be no sound whatsoever in the actual structure itself, and any that enters finds no echoes, and disappears
>Rather eerie, really
"Let's go, shall we?"
>You take another step and hear massive lights click on
>Immediately you freeze, and look around
>You look back, and see that the rest of your colleagues still nervously lag behind
>Another step, and lights ahead of you activate
>You get the feeling that you're being watched
>Maybe you ought to get this over with
>You begin to walk, and several lighs begin to activate, slowly revealing a giant hall-way like structure
>It eventually is revealed to be approximately a hundred feet long, and now a small pedestal stands in the light
>Before continuing, you look back to see the group not too far behind
>Just in case this ends up being dangerous
>You get close to the pedestal and see a small screen on it
ENTER?
Y/N
 
>Strange, as a contrast to the obscure opening, now this
>No buttons, so you press the Y on the screen
>A tremendous rumbling occurs, and a wall facing the opening reveals itself, concrete, and the size of the initial door that had let you in
>The concrete wall begins to slide downwards, with even more darkness behind it, and the sound of machinery starting up
>Giant distant generators, and gears turning give life to the emptiness
>Lights activate, revealing silhouettes of giant construction belts and strange objects
>Distant fires and saws begin giving off even more light
>A single cat-walk, stretches further into what appears to be a factory
>You turn back to the group, who are most likely as amazed as you
"I think we found the source of the seismic activity."
>You step onto the catwalk, which vibrates slightly
>"Hey, are you sure it's safe?"
"In all honesty, not in the slightest."
>An old, rusty catwalk, hanging from decaying wires or rotting columns? No, not safe at all
>But, it means this place is very old
"There's a lot of dust floating around, dust comes from dirt, and living things, a mixture of dirt and dead skin cells just floating around, covering everything. Now, how much dirt do you see? Other than what's in the air, none."
>You can still spot silhouettes of giant boxes in the distance, and collapsing objects, flying sparks
>The question still remains, what are these conveyor belts holding? Even though they seem to stretch forever in and out of the dust clouds, they don't seem to be holding anything important
>Or, really, anything
"Nothing is even in those belts, but why are they still running?"
>"That is weird, who or what do you think built this place?"
>This place, it seems, strangely human
>Industrial machines seem to endlessly pound away in the distance, as you continue to aimlessly walk along the long catwalk, occasionally making turns or detours when you come across a damaged or destroyed portion or forks in the walk
"So, do you really think this won't just end up being an abandoned place that we'll never find anything out about?"
>"Yeah, I think we should leave."
>Before you can agree, the sound of a giant piston cuts you off
>The catwalk lurches to the side, throwing you into the guardrails as it begins turning
>Something seems to have ripped the portion you and the group stand on, and is now rotating it
>You look down, and see that a giant machine has severed the rear of the walk, and wires from above are now hoisting it into the air, and turning it slowly
>It comes to a halt when it meets a small opening in one of the near-by box-like structures
>The opening leads down a short hallway, to a large door, reading in large, white words to a red background: A.I. Control room
"I get the feeling that something wants to meet us."
>"So?! Didn't this place just try to kill us?"
"No, I think it's just trying to lead us to it or something."
>"You're being way too reckless."
>You just shrug
>The door is circular in shape, like a door to a safe
>A horizontal line goes across it, indicating that it will open that way
>You walk into the hallway, and when you get close to the door, it automatically opens
>On the other side you see another, longer hallway
>You can only see so far into it, as all the light seems to fade at the far side
>Some silhouettes of wires or bars begin to come into view as you start down the hallway
>The dust is thicker in here, making it harder to see
>You can see some sparks that seem to fly down from a very tall ceiling beyond the corridor you're currently going down
>The dust begins turning blueish, with less light being here save for the occasional spark or monitor flickering
>You finally enter a mighty room, covered in panels and status screens
>Observation windows to the rest of the factory would allow for easy and efficient material management
>A giant object hanging from the very top and stretching to the ground dominates the room
>It appears to be a giant array of tubes, mostly, though some of them are cracked and leaking some strange fluid
>"What do you think that thing is?"
"I'm gonna make a guess, and say that it's probably the control center of the factory."
>You look around and spot a typical doorway
>Although no door is there, you do see that it leads somewhere
>An arrow points to the door and reads AI Control
"Two of you stay here, the rest of you with me, we're gonna check out what's down there."
>They decide among themselves as you make your way over some broken glass, bent metal and tubes
>You reach the doorway, and look inside it, there you see a stairway
>The stairs lead down, directly into another room
>You walk down the stairs and into what appears to be a type of breaker room
>The walls are covered in switches and tubes
>Three of your colleagues walk in, and see the room
>You face them
"So, which one activates this AI?"
>They shrug as they look around
>You turn back around
>Suddenly, instead of being in a breaker room, you're in a black void
>And Luna is in front of you
>Her horn lights up, as do her eyes
>"You will not remember this dream."
>Wait, what?
>Now you're in your bed
>You look around, no light aside from some creeping in between the door and the floor
>Well, you remember that Luna said that you won't remember that dream
>Did she just not wipe your memory?
>You can still remember it perfectly fine
>And before you can forget, you leap from the bed and grab your dream journal to document the dream
>You decide to take a look at all that you've documented
>It's not very long, but each document is rather long, with the dreams being surprisingly vivid
>Now, is it possible that these dreams are in fact decoys of a sort? To distract you from the real truth?
>And Celestia knows about your papers
>You finish writing in the journal
>Now, for someone who can use potions
>You grab an unmarked book, full of the equations and algorithms that even you only barely understand
>But something deep down seemed to guide you, showed you what to do
>Only really made sense in terms of feelings, but not coherent thoughts
>You grab a book bag, sliding your soon to be magic book into it
>Now, how to inconspicuously ask about a potion maker?
>Perhaps you could pretend to have given up on magic, and wish to try potions and alchemy
>That should work
>You get some shoes on, and walk out the door
>Now, you just need to find Twilight, or anyone who knows a potion maker
>You look around, and see Twilight reading a book at one of the various desks
"Hey, Twilight, do you know any potion makers? Since I can't use magic, maybe I can try potions out for a spin, eh?"
>She looks over, and seems to ponder for a moment
>"Yeah, there's Zecora, she's a zebra who lives in the everfree forest, if you just follow the road through the forest you should reach her place pretty easily."
>You wave as you walk to the front door
"Thanks."
>You quickly walk to the road, with somewhat of a sense of urgency
>Walking along one of the roads, you see the one that leads out to the forest
>And some storm clouds seem to be brewing over the forest itself
>Wish you had an umbrella
>You can even hear some thunder from here
>Hopefully the rain won't damage your book
>As you walk through the forest, you get some time to think to yourself
>If you are correct about your papers, you ought to be able to invent your own type of magic
>A new type, not dark magic, not normal magic and not even alicorn magic, whatever the difference may be
>These pages are a type of.. opposite to traditional magic
>Supposedly some spells are made to directly counter-act the ponies magic
>Maybe a good name would be Anti-Magic, human made, and powered by who knows what
>Basically the opposite of magic
>And in theory, with more potential
>You begin to notice large, spiked branches stretching out further and further into the road
>Maybe you could test something
>You look around, who knows who might be watching
>Maybe you could prick your finger on something, just to see how much it hurts and to see how quickly it closes up
>You look up, and see the clouds are now directly overhead
>It's getting darker and more grey
>Thunder begins to rumble much more loudly now, and the wind begins picking up
>Now, how much longer until you reach this Zecora's place?
>You continue your walk, and spot a good branch to test your healing ability on
>If you simply reach out, you could get your finger, without having to lean over or reach up
>As you pass, you run your hand into it
>Doesn't hurt nearly as much as you thought it might
>You look, and see that one of the spikes has gone into your index finger, decently deep
>Blood flows slowly, but steadily out from the minor wound
>You bring your finger back up, and wipe the blood off
>Although slightly obscured by blood, you can see that there is nothing on your finger any longer
>No hole, no scab, nothing
>Completely healed
>This is probably exactly what Celestia didn't want you to find out about
>It seems that the cat's out of the bag, now
>Although this means you should be more worried about yourself than Celestia's current kingdom
>A bit of regeneration shouldn't cause her too much trouble, should it?
>Though, if used right, it sure could
>A loud thunder-clap from above shakes you from your thoughts
>And a small drizzle of rain has began, with droplets skimming down leaves and hitting the dirt, which is quickly becoming mud
>The clouds are well overhead now
>Looks like you aren't getting to Zecora's place without getting wet
>But you should worry more about your book, hopefully the pages will still function even if they get slightly damp
>Even though, the water shouldn't get through the bag
>You begin your walk again, quickening your pace
>Maybe once you make these papers magical, the secret to how you made them will be revealed