Saying that technology was a new field in Equestria was like saying that Bitalian food was the best thing ever created on the planet, in that it's entirely true and more likely an understatement.

In this regard, the insanely fast development of the subject due to four ponies struck the world by storm, and the general public still had trouble wrapping their minds around its existence.

For example, try thinking for a moment. You are a simple journalist, used to complications in politics, a generally predictable genre as history once performed will likely be repeated. Magic is no stranger to you, and even if you aren't necessarily a scholar, there is a certain common sense followed by most magic that makes it easy to understand.

But when technology arrives, to the common mind it seems more magical than magic itself.

Not to mention that most technology in Equestria nowadays is the clever combination of technology itself and loopholed, nearly bootlegged magic.

So when a simple journalist like you realizes she holds in her own hooves a physical representation of the way she thinks and acts, you wouldn't really blame her for taking an existential outlook on things for a moment.

Naturally, the feelings pass, and reason kicks in, but the nagging doubt at the back of her mind continues to exist. Once created, it never truly leaves...

All this is observed and carefully noted.

--<?>-------That last line is important in about thirteen chapters or so, I dunno-------<?>--/

"I still can't believe that this technology actually works."

Illesio was walking down the hallway towards the Applicable Literature side of the building, Res close beside her.

"To be entirely honest, I'm still getting over it myself," said Res, "it's just happened so fast. Really, I guess all Equestria needed was three or four ponies that thought differently than everypony else to kick it off."

"Three or four? I thought there were only the two of you?"

"No, no, remember Clear Sight's brother? There's a third, and the fourth one is another of our employees here at the...Ah, here." He gestured towards a theatrically engraved door. "The Technology Center."

He put a hoof to the side of his mouth and spoke confidentially. "This section is one of the best-kept secrets in all of Equestria, but Clear Sight and I have been talking recently, and with our rebranding, decided to open inquiries to the media. Congratulations, you're the first," he said as he walked up to the door, lit up his horn for a spell, spouted an incredibly complex and credibly incomprehensible series of syllables, and stepped back as the doors opened.

Illesio raised an eyebrow. "That's one strange security system."

"Oh, I just do the noises to throw any surprise visitors off," he grinned.

Illesio rolled her eyes...but as she walked through the door, rolling was the least of her eyes' problems.

An absolutely massive, cavernous room, easily three or four times the size of the Psychiatry foyer, stretched out before them. Countless numbers of metal grate catwalks snaked across the ceiling and between pillars, connecting different sections. Wherever her eyes turned, there was something extremely interesting going on, between prototypes for wireless telephones, the development of a reliable full video capture camera, beta testing on artificial pegasus wings, the six-sided summoning circle set into the floor with a crowd of exited ponies setting road flares around it at intervals, or even the built-in cafeteria.

She noticed very suddenly she was very suddenly hungry: it was already two-o'clock.

Res seemed to notice as well, because he said, "How about something to eat, eh? Does Bitalian sound alright to you?"

And when she said yes, it did, that was also more likely an understatement.

--<+>-------Running gags are difficult to pull off well-------<^>--/

Clear Sight had, to everyone's relief, finished his list for the day and was now winding down, preferably by finding some lunch first, it was getting pretty late. "Thanks a ton, Deep Thought. I'd be lost without you."

"No problem, Clear Sight," Deep Thought sighed, "it's not like I have anything...i don't know, better to do?"

Clear Sight looked at him with that peculiar unreadable expression he got at times. "Oh, geez, sorry man. I mean I...guess I just got caught up in the act. You know, I gotta look like the most insane nutcase the world has ever seen, you know?"

He crossed to the balcony of his office and leaned on the railing. "When people see the most irrationally insane pony ever known run a business built upon bringing others to, to sanity, it creates this...duality, this mystique, a part of history that never really will be explained, like how could a pony like that ever accomplish anything, let alone the exact opposite of his personality?" He sighed. "A narcissistic act? Yes. A powerful act? Yes. And although the media won't necessarily tell you, ask anypony who's ever come to see me on a personal appointment. They can tell you."

Deep Thought simply scratched his head, stood there for few minutes in shock, and left in silence.

Clear Sight then looked after him with that peculiar unreadable expression...that anyone who actually knows him knows is perfectly readable, just in the exact wrong way.

He muttered to himself, "Sure fooled him," and broke into an easy smile.

The smile faded as a faint rumbling could be heard in the distance.

"Holy, holy actual Celestia freaking shiz," he said.

---------What's going on with him? Too bad, more A plot---------/

A shout emanated from the group of ponies gathered around the six-sided summoning circle.

Illesio thought to herself, as she finished her pasta carbonara, that would make a nice tongue twister.

As the ponies scattered, a burst of bright light emanated from the previously aforementioned circle and materialized into a stack of meticulous, elegant boxes, which were promptly carted away towards the side of the room she hadn't seen yet.

"Ah yes, our new shipment," commented Res from the other side of the table. He had elegantly chosen the white truffle gnocchi with an old Barolo for pairing. He also had casually suggested she try a Gavi di Gavi with her meal, which turned out to perfectly accentuate the taste.

"One of our...larger projects requires some interesting items only importable from foreign parts," he continued, "and if it works will be the single most theoretically advanced invention of all time. However, that is one project that we will keep a secret, as its nature is sufficiently...hmm. Mind-boggling?"

He waved a hoof dismissively. "That's not what we're here for anyway. Would you like to take a closer look at any of these projects?"

Illesio looked around, but all of the projects looked far too complex. "Thanks, but...I don't think I can handle much more mind-boggling today." She was feeling particularly small, and wondered to herself how none of the media stations had ever unearthed any of what she had seen today. There was simply too much to keep hidden.

"Say, uh, Res?"

"Yes?"

"How do none of the outside public know what is in this building?"

Res smiled, a genuine, honest smile. "That's Clear Sight's job, and he is rather good at it."

The phone rang.

Res picked it up, muttering an apology to his guest. "What's up Clear Sight?"

The phone had somehow been left on speakerphone, and Clear Sight's words fell like landslides on Res's eardrums.

"Hey yeah, nothing much," Clear Sight said as Res fumbled to set the phone down, "I got two things to tell you. Good or bad first?"

"Why, of course good," Res replied, confused.

"Well good news is that on a phone call, I found out Starswirl the Bearded is back along with his friends, the OG Bearers, and this should totally be nipped in the bud,"

"Yeah, Wow, if that's the good stuff, what's the bad news?"

"Everypony Equestria Round Wave One is bashing itself at our defenses," Clear Sight said in a tone so desperate, everypony around the cafeteria stopped and stared at the phone in shock.

Clear Sight never resorted to desperation.

Two minutes later, Res and Illesio stood looking out the window of the second floor main lobby mezzanine, where they were joined quickly by Clear Sight.

Res said, "I guess we shouldn't have ended that story on a cliffhanger after all."

Clear Sight said, "No kidding, this is where Fallout Equestria begins."

Illesio said, "You actually read those comics? I never would've thought."

Clear Sight said, "Oh yeah, I read em. Got the collectors editions from the Canterlot Store of Magic Comics, cool stuff."

Illesio said, "But you've got to get the good writers. They keep changing them up and it drives me nuts."

Clear Sight said, "Oh yeah absolute--"

Res said, "Hey, we've got more to worry about right now."

The road before the front entrance to the facility was thick with furiously galloping ponies. The sky itself seemed dark with the wings of speeding pegasi.

Their eyes, every single individual's, burned with a clear and purposeful goal: the end of the story.

Res turned to Clear Sight.

"You for it?" he asked.

Clear Sight seemed unsure for a split second, before he shrugged and said, "Ehhh, ready as I'll ever be."

He reached for a small necklace he was wearing, but before he did anything, he looked at Illesio, and tapped his forehead.

"Don't worry. You got my insurance."

And the world turned to light.

--<>-------What in Equestria just happened?-------<>--/

Author's Note

When the moon hits your eye cause the whole world to die that's amore

Italian food is the best running gag ever and holy crap I got ambitious with this one.
What the hell does Clear Sight got up his sleeves?
And Res for that matter?

Three hours Fifteen Minutes

Cheers from a man surprised at how many times he misspelled the word 'surprise,'
Betless