Backwards

Chapters

Day in the life of a halfing in the City of Dreams
The Anomaly and the Metal Machine
The Shelter

Day in the life of a halfing in the City of Dreams

Heat.
The scorching heat of the sun pounds down onto the asphalt and concrete sidewalks of the City of Dreams. It's so hot that it wouldn't be a surprise if the roads melted into a molten sludge. None of this mattered to Keltin though, a 'go-big-or-go-home' type, though he hasn't struck anything big yet. The name of the city was misleading. Keltin moved to the city just a few years ago after his mother died, in hopes of catching his big break. Unfortunately, though, it was anything but a big break.

"Phew," Keltin sighs, wiping the sweat from his brow with his hoof. "It hasn't been this hot since I moved here. Serves me for believing my dreams would come true in a desert..."

Pedestrians of all kinds were shuffling about, commuting to work. Ponies, gryphons, dragons, and even changelings lived among each other in relative harmony. The skies were crowded with a variety of flying species while the roads were as lively as ever with the countless grounded species.

"Ah," A gruffy, but oddly gentle voice came from behind Keltin, "'s that you, Kelt'n?"

Turning his head to see the voice behind him, Keltin is greeted with the sight of somebody he vaguely recognized, though he couldn't quite figure it out. "Uh, do I know you?" He asked.

With a hearty chuckle from the voice, an elderly gryphon, he jabs Keltins flank end, seemingly as a friendly gesture. "'Course you do! It's your 'ol physics teacher!"

Thinking for a moment, Keltin looks over the old gryphon again. "Mr. Wemsworth?" He asks, still not entirely sure.

With another hearty chuckle, the gryphon responds, "Ya rem'ber my name! But do ya rem'ber my classes?"

Keltin laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward smile. "It's been like, eight years. There's no way I'd be able to remember all that stuff," He pauses for a moment, realizing what exactly he said, "But! It's not like I haven't forgotten entirely!"

The old gryphon, Wemsworth, smiles, "You never were the cooperat've type," By now, the crowded sidewalk was a little less crowded, and Wemsworth took a few steps forward. "Well, I'm off! Take care, Kelt'n!" He says in a cheery tone before taking off down the sidewalk. Meanwhile, Keltin took the sidewalk that forked off in the opposite direction of the one his old teacher went down.

As he made his way past countless shops and apartments and business buildings, Keltin couldn't help but think about how he ended up where he was. Just a few years ago, he was by his mothers side while she was on her death bed, just minutes before her time passed. He could vividly remember how all of it went down.

4 Years Ago

The soft buzz of a magic medical crystal filled the otherwise quiet hospital room, the cool autumn air breezing in through the open window above the bed. In the bed lay a sickly bat pony, coincidently named Autumn. Keltins mother. And there, slumped on the ground with his head rest on the side of the bed was Keltin himself. Staring at the wall opposite of him.

"None of this is real... Right..?" He mumbles to himself, drained of all feeling. Dry tears staining the fur below his eyes. "This is all just a bad dream..." He mutters, looking over to his mother, her breathes short and shallow, and a pained expression on her sleeping face.

Keltin was only freshly 16, and he was already losing his mother. His father, whose name he never wants to hear, ran off on Keltins 6th birthday. As far as he knew, he didn't have any family other then his mother, so Keltin would have nowhere to go should his mother die. He was afraid he'd end up in an orphanage, or left out on the streets of his backwater hometown, or that a worse fate might befall him. But more then anything else, he was sad. Devastated. It could be his teen angst, but he felt as if he lost all ability to feel emotion. Aside from sadness, of course. It was when he was deep in thought, almost intentionally trying to give himself an existential crisis when a doctor entered to room.
"Erm, mister... Blaze, was it?" The doctor questioned, a more or less somber tone to his voice.

"That's not my name." Keltin says, plainly. Keeping his eyes on his bedridden mother, though still fully listening for the doctor, the evening breeze from outside blowing through Keltins mane and fur.

The doctor is silent for a moment, confused. He backs out of the room for a moment, looking up above the door. Room 04. It was the right room, so the doctor figured he must be correct. Before the doctor could say anything, Keltins answers the question before its even asked. "That was my fathers last name. And then he abandoned us." He says, followed by a moment of silence. Getting to his hooves, he turns around to face the doctor. "My last name is Sky, like my mother."

Stepping back into the room fully, the doctor closes the door behind him and bows, both apologetically and as a greeting. "Yes, sorry about that, Mr. Sky." The doctor makes his way to the side of the bed opposite of Keltin, levitating a small box from his box to the table next to the bed. "Here's the thing that was requested." The doctor says, checking his clipboard for a moment before nodding to himself, and leaving the room in silence.

Before he knew it, Keltin was once again in the mostly quiet room alone, with his mother. Looking to the box on the other side of the bed, Keltin smiles to himself, though it was more of a pained smile then anything. Keltin trots around the bed to the other side, extending a hoof to open the lid when he reached it. Inside was a little wooden figure on a pedestal, as well as a little winding key beside it. Twisting the key a few times, a somber yet beautiful jingle starts playing as the sculpted figure begins to rotate.

"They actually went and got that little thing." A voice speaks out. Keltin snaps his head to the left, seeing his mother facing him. "I'm surprised they could even find our house." She says, extending a hoof, looking at the box Keltin had.

Keltin puts the box into Autumns hoof before embracing her for as good of a hug as he could give, considering Autumn was still laying down. "I thought you were asleep. Are you alright?" Keltin asks, then sitting down on the side of the bed facing his mother.

Autumn does her best to give him a comforting smile, though its clear it isn't easy for her to do. "I'm doing fine, don't worry about it." She says, doing her best to sit up in the bed. She winds the key of the box up a few times, before letting it go so the song could play.

A few moments pass.

"You know, this little music box has been passed down for... Well a long time," Autumn begins, putting it down on the side table as it continues playing, watching it intently. "My mother, and my mothers mother, and their mothers mother were all bat ponies. My mother gave it to me when she passed." She says, looking over to Keltin. "And soon, I'll be passing it on to you."

Knowing what that implied, Keltin couldn't help but lower his head, trying not to imagine that scenario. "I wish that wasn't the case..." He says, unable to cry despite wanting to. "I don't know what I'm gonna do alone." Keltin looks back up at his mother, who is now laying back looking up at the ceiling, smiling weakly.

"You're a smart young stallion, I know you'll do just fine." She says, yawning after a few moments. "I've been moving around more then the doctors said I should. Thank you for staying here with me," Autumn says with a pause, "You truly are the best son I could have ever asked for." Autumn closes her eyes, the music box stops and once again the beeping of the magic medical crystal fills the air, gradually beeper slower, and slower, and slower. Until...

Silence.

Present Day

As Keltin rounded a corner, the entrance to his humble little pawn shop came into view. 'Keltins Odds & Ends', it was called. It wasn't anything too fancy, but it served it's purpose. As he approached the front door, a fast, dark figure zooms through the sky, directly towards him. "Look out!" The figure calls out, but before Keltin can even react, CRASH!
Next thing he knew, Keltin was on the ground on his back. Looking around, he couldn't see anything. Then he felt something moving on his chest. Looking down Keltin could see a small, dark pegasus.

"Dammit Raine, again?" He asked, a little frustrated, but otherwise unaffected. The small pony gets up, hoping off Keltins chest and landing on her hooves.

"Sorry... I lost control..." She says, backing away nervously, her ears folding down as she figits with the ground with her hoof.

Grunting as he brings himself to his hooves, Keltin shakes off before turning to the pegasus. "You've said the same thing three times in a row now," He begins, turning back to the door of his shop, fishing the key out of his saddle bag. "Huh? Where's my key?" He says, a little panicked. He begins searching around, all the while a mischievous smirk begins to form on Raines face. "You mean this key?" She asks, lifting her right wing to reveal Keltins shop key tucked away.

Keltins looks to his side at Raine, and sees his key. "Give." He says plainly, trying to be intimidating.

"Come and get it yourself." Raine responds, still smiling. "You wouldn't let me get away with stealing it, would you?"

Keltin sighs, and approaches Raine, clearly annoyed. "I'm not playing games today, Raine. Just giv-"

Raine lowers her wing and jumps back away from Keltin. "You'll just have to take it by force." She says, now in a readied stance as if she were about to fight.

Keltin rolls his eyes, then points behind Raine. "Look out!" He shouts. Raine snaps around, looking in every direction frantically. "Where?!" She exclaims. Within the few moments of confusion, Keltin knocks Raine in the back of her head, knocking her to the ground as the key to the shops slips out from under her wing. "Ow! The hell was that for?" Raine yells, jumping back to her hooves and facing Keltin angrily.

Keltin chuckles to himself and picks up the key off the ground before turning the the door and unlocking it. "You're never gonna become a successful thief if you fall for the oldest trick in the book," He says, pushing the door open after he hears the clicking of the lock. "Also," He begins, "Please stop flying into me whenever you get here early."

Raine smirks, already having forgot about what Keltin did, "Early? Does that mean you recognize me as an employee?" She questioned, happily trotting to the door alongside Keltin. "Guess you'll have to start paying me~" She says, before her expression drops to a more serious tone. "I'll be expecting double pay, choose my own hours, free lunch, a place to actually liv-" She cuts herself off, realizing Keltin had already entered the shop and closed the door. "hey! Wait!" She exclaims, grabbing the door handle and pulling on it - but it doesn't open.

"Get lost, kid." Keltin says, straight faced, though his words are muffled by the glass.

"Kid?! I'm 19, three years younger then you!" Raine says, angrily.

Keltin turns around and trots away from the window, "You look and act 12."

Raine huffs, banging on the door, though no response is seen or heard. "Fine, whatever. Never liked your little shop anyways!" She lied through her teeth as she unfurled her wings and took off into the sky.

A Few Hours Later

Ring ding. The sound of the bell on the counter goes off, and Keltin emerges from the backroom of his pawn shop. "Hello?" He asked, meeting eyes with his customer. Eyes he recognized. Keltin shuffles up to the counter and clears his throat, "Good afternoon, Mayor. How can I help you today?"

The customer before Keltin was the Mayor of the City of Dreams. A tall, though slim earth pony with pale white fur and ash white mane. She had pearly white eyes, and white rimmed glasses to match. Looking around the shop, the Mayor then points to the sign placed above Keltins head. "Are you Keltin, the owner of this fine establishment?" She asks, her soothing voice filling the otherwise silent shop.

Keltin nods, bowing slightly to show his respect, "That me, and this is my little slice of happiness." He responds, lying mostly to himself.

The Mayor sighs a breathe of relief, and looks Keltin straight in the eyes. "Do you know my daughter, per chance?"

...Silence.

"Eh? Your daughter?" Keltin asks, confused.

"Yes," The Mayor begins. "I was told she had been sneaking out recently, and has been spotted here." She explains, Keltin growing even more confused. "Sorry," Keltin begins, "Who?"

"Ah, apologies. MY daughter, Raine. A small pegasus, colors opposite of mine? She's a mischievous one." A few moments pass after the mayors words, Keltin still processing what he just heard. And then he realized it.

A little afraid, and a lot worried, Keltin trips over his own words. "Uhm, well, I mean, I-" CRASH!

"Ow!" A very familiar voice shouts from the backroom. Recognizing the voice, the mayor looked to the entry way of the room. "Raine, darling?" She questions, looking back to Keltin, confused?

"Huh?" Keltin says, also confused. "Raine?" He repeats. And then immediately snaps around to face the backroom. "Raine?!" He rushes into the room, immediately greeted by Raine, laying sprawled on the floor with dirt and grime. Confused, He looks around, and sees one of the ceiling panels are gone. "Did you... Did you break in through the ceiling..?" Keltin questions, now more disappointed then anything.

"Urgh... Ow..." Is all Raine could manage to respond with, though she does look up at Keltin. "Tell my mom it's not me, I reall-"

"Your daughter broke into my shop, she's right here. Please, remove her immediately." Keltin says plainly, already peeking out of the backroom out at the mayor, "I mean no offense, of course."

...Silence.

"Well, I see she has made herself at home. Please, do take care of her." The mayor says, very obviously trying to not laugh at her daughters antics. "I thank you for taking care of her when she chose to run away." And with that, the mayor turned tail and hurried out of the shop before Keltin could protest.

"Good job, idiot." Raine says. Keltin turns his head to see Raine was back on her hooves, facing Keltin.

"What... Just happened?" Keltin asks, himself more then anything.

Pushing past Keltin, Raine hops the counter to a more open area, stretching and readjusting her wings. "She's convinced I've been sneaking out to some lover or something," Once she's done stretching, Raine shakes the dirt and grime off of her dirtying some of Keltins odds and ends in the process, "Honestly, that woman."

BANG!

To Be Continued(?)

Author's Note

I've always written little stories for myself and myself alone, so this is my first time writing one with other readers in mind. That being said, hopefully its at least par for the quality here on FimFic.

Bookmark the story, like it, let me know if you want to see more and all that other jazz when it comes to stories.

I'm constantly developing and changing this new universe, and I also think the idea of some audience participation would be pretty cool, so by all means drops some ideas or suggestions down in the comments. I may or may not expand on the ideas given.

Take care.
WWA, out.

The Anomaly and the Metal Machine

It was like any other day in the City of Dreams. The scorching heat reflecting off of the otherwise uncommon skyscrapers of glass and metal made it feel several degrees hotter then it actually was. The city was built as a centre for all walks of life to gather and live, and has been an incredibly important location in Equestria - some would even say its more important then the royal capital of Canterlot. Unfortunately the importance of the city would be the very reason for its downfall...

BANG!

A loud explosion rang through the city, Keltin and Raine both jumping at the sudden sounds. They both look to each other, then at the front entrance of the shop. As if they silently agreed, they both dash to the front door and swing it open. In the distance, a large cloud of black smoke could be seen billowing out of a skyscraper, just before another explosion could be heard.

BOOM!

And another.

BANG!

And another.

"I... I have to go make sure everyone's ok!" Panicked and afraid, Raine took off flying towards the City Hall, presumably to make sure her family was ok. "Wait!" Keltin called out as Raine flew away, "It could be dangerous!" But of course, Raine was already too far away to clearly hear Keltin as more explosions rang out through the city.

"What is going on?" Keltin asked himself, "Are we under attack? What happening?" He continues to ask himself, oblivious to a black orb in the middle of his shop slowly growing, buzzing as it does so. A few seconds pass before Keltin shakes himself out of his confusion. "You just gotta be calm, Keltin. An emergency shelter is right around the corner, so let me just-" He cuts himself off as he turns around, seeing a black dome encapsulating his shop as he now finally notices the buzzing that is coming from it.

The dome comes to a halt and the buzzing stops, but before Keltin can even process what's going on, the dome implodes on itself and-

BOOM!

It explodes, and Keltin is sent flying back into a lamp post, the impact knocking him unconscious.

Several Hours Later

The moon was low in the sky, the stars just now becoming visible. a usually quiet City of Dreams at night was now instead bustling with creatures of all races, now working together even more then they ever had before. Many of which were carrying stretchers or crates from carriages to the emergency shelter entrance that was around the corner. Slowly, Keltin began to wake up. Groaning, he opens his eyes. "What... What happened..?" He says to himself, his memory a little fuzzy.

"He woke up!" An unfamiliar voice called out, all the while Keltin was trying to adjust to the night. Keltin tries to sit up, but immediately winces and falls back. "Try not to move too much, you're badly injured." The unfamiliar voice says. Somewhat adjusted to the darkness, Keltin looks to his side where to voice was coming from, and sees a hippogriff nurse.

"Where am I? What happened?" Keltin asked, now looking around to try and figure out where he was.

"You're at the last remaining emergency shelter by where we found you," The nurse explains, picking up a dressing as she begins to wrap it around one of Keltins hooves, "You were pretty hurt when we found you, but thankfully the head doctor was with us, so he healed most of your treatable injuries." The nurse continues, though Keltin began to zone out. "'Last remaining emergency shelter?"' He thought to himself, confused. "'What happened to the other shelters?"' he continued to think.

"Sir?" The nurse says, Keltin snapping back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Keltin says, looking back to the nurse, who now had a familiar earth pony and an unfamiliar zebra beside her. "I was just thinking about some things..."

"How are you feeling, kid?" The zebra asks, shuffling through his saddlebag while glancing at Keltin. "I'm fine," Keltin says as he rubs his head, "A little dizzy, but fine." THe zebra pulls out a small bottle from his saddlebag, and puts it down on the crate beside keltin. "When your heads clears up a bit, take this. You'll be able to move around a bit without any problems."

Keltin looks at the bottle, then at the zebra, "Why can't I move around now? And who are you?" The zebra pauses for a minute, then chuckles to himself. "Apologies! I'm the lead physician at the main hospital, Doctor Krebar. Pleasure to make to acquaintance!" He bowed his head, the glasses on his face nearly falling off. "Well, thanks Doc. I heard you patched me up before." Keltin says, though he repeats his previous question. "Why can't I move around, though?"

The doctor raises his head, and frowns a bit as he adjusts his glasses. "Well, you were caught up in the formation of one of the anomalies, and it knocked you against a lamp post," The doctor explains, all the while Keltin begins to remember, "I was able to heal most of your injuries, and had my subordinates mend your broken ribs, but..." He pauses for a moment, but eventually continues. "Nothing could be done for your broken back. At least not permanently," The doctor then points to the bottle that he placed down beside Keltin, "This medicine though, it can magically hold broken bones together for a period of time. It is technically still an experimental medicine, but you could use it more then anyone right now."

A moment of silence passes as Keltin tries to absorb all the information that was just thrown at him. Anomaly? Broken back? Experimental medicine? He was unsure how to react, though he quickly thought up a question. "I tried to get up a minute ago, but couldn't... I didn't feel any pain, though. You'd think trying to move with a broken back would hurt like hell..."

"Ah," The doctor begins, "That would be the anomaly. We aren't sure how, and quite frankly it should be impossible, but it seems the anomaly affected your nerves in some way," The doctor starts to ramble, suddenly pacing back and forth, "We aren't sure how, but you wont be able to feel anything. We aren't sure for how long, but it very well may be permanent." The doctor stops and looks to Keltin, "The nurse has been wrapping you up in dressing, but there were several marks all over your body that resemble what the anomalies are made of. You are the only one in the entire city that was hit by an anomaly and survived."

Once again, Keltin had to process what he was just told, then he looks at his left hoof. Though it was wrapped, he could see a faint purple glow from under the dressing. He then looks at the medicine beside him. "Taking this medicine will allow me to walk around for a bit, right?" He asks.

"Yes," The doctor responds, clearing his throat as he bows down again. "Apologies, but it will only be effective for roughly 20 minutes." He says, raising his head once again. "However," he begins, taking on a serious tone. "You can't stray too far from the anomaly. We tried moving you into the shelter, but your condition just go worse the farther way from the anomaly you are. We aren't sure why..."

Keltin sighs, and picks up the medicine, before realizing something, "Hey... I don't know too much about medical stuff, but if my backs broken, should I not be able to use my hooves, or really, move at all?" He asks, but rather then answering, the doctor just shrugs in defeat. Keltin looks back at the medicine, before popping it open and drinking it. Hoping it worked, Keltin tries to stand up, which he does successfully.

The doctors eye light up, surprised the medicine actually worked. "I never expected it to take effect so quickly, but it works! As long as there are no side effects, we could probably mass produce this stuff!" He exclaims, then remembering the state of the city, "Ah, right..."

The mayor, who had been silent the whole time, finally decided to speak up. "What do you plan on doing now that you can walk, Keltin?" Hearing the mayor call Keltin by his name so casually felt a bit weird to him, but her chose to ignore it for now. "This 'anomaly' happened in my shop. I need to see if my floor safe is still intact," He begins, but he's cut off by the mayor, "DON'T enter it. Nopony who has went in has come out yet, you'd be walking into your dea-"

"We should let him." The doctor chimes in. Keltin and the mayor look at him. "If being far from the anomaly worsens his health, and being closer helps his health, then maybe being inside it will heal him?"

"Did you not just hear what I sai-" The mayor cuts on, but is cut off by the doctor once again.

The doctor looks to keltin, "It's not guaranteed that you'll be fine, but you very clearly have a connection to the anomaly because you survived it. It's possible you can enter it without dying." The doctor pauses, then bows to the mayor, apologizing. "Apologies for interrupting you, Mayor! I just felt that I should share my opinion!"

The Mayor sighs, then shakes her head. "Very well." She looks at keltin." If you wish to try to enter the anomaly, then I will not stop you. Just be careful," She says, sighing audibly again, trying to make it clear that she wasn't the biggest advocate of Keltins plan. "We can't see into the anomaly, so its likely you cant see out of it. We have no idea if theres even enything left of your shop to begin with."

"I'll at least try," Keltin begins, "Theres something very important to me in my floor safe." Not even waiting for a response, Keltin turns around and see the entrance to the emergency shelter. The medicine the doctor gave him worked like a charm as he made his way past the shelter entrance and rounds the corner, a large, dark purple dome in place of his shop coming into view. As he approached it, he felt almost as if he were getting lighter, though a faint buzzing grew louder and louder. The doctor and mayor were following him, though they kept their distance from the anomaly as they watched keltin.

Keltin puts one hoof up to the dome, and pushing it against it. He could feel some resistance, but could tell it wouldn't be hard to enter. Taking a deep breath, Keltin charges in, head first with his eyes closed. As he felt his tail pass through the dome, he then opened his eyes. It was foggy. He expected it to be purple fog, but it wasn't. It was quiet. All sound from outside was gone, and now the only thing that keltin could hear was the faint buzzing he heard outside of the dome. Progressing forward, he could vaguely make out the door frame of his shop, though the door itself was gone and the walls were broken apart and all over the ground. Keltin steps through the doorway, the buzzing getting louder. He could make out the overturned tables and shelves, and all of his merchandise all over the place, most of it broken or badly damaged.

He makes his way to the counter, and sees some debris from the partially collapsed ceiling blocking his way behind the counter. So, instead, he jumps over the counter not making a noise as he does. The buzzing was coming from the backroom, but he chose to ignore it. Looking down, he seen his floor safe. A little scratched up and dented, but intact. He enters the code he set for the safe, and with a click, it opens. The buzzing stops. A metallic clanking comes from the backrooms, and Keltin looks up. the doors was closed, despite him remembering it being open before the anomalies appeared. The handle twists slowly. It took keltin a moment to process everything that has happened in the past few seconds, before finally realizing he wasn't alone in the anomaly.

Slowly backing away, keltin, looks around, panicked. Whatever was coming out of the room would very likely see him try to leave, so running wasn't an option. Looking behind him, he seen a small crawlspace underneath the rubble of the ceiling that he could squeeze into, so, as quickly as possible, keltin hides away. The backrooms door slowly opens. A metallic leg is the first thing to leave the room, followed be another. Looking up slightly, keltin can see the rest of this metallic being. It was tall, and entirely metal. It resembled a dragon, in a way, minus the wings, scales and tail. On its right arm was what looked to be a tube, though it was bent slightly. on its right arm was a long, razor sharp looking blade. there were two more tubes on the legs of the machine, and its head had a small metal rod sticking out of it. It's eyes were glowing blue, and finally, strapped on its back, was a gryphon.

Just then Keltin noticed the stench of death, realizing the gryphon was dead, keltin couldn't help but make a noise of discomfort. The metallic being snapped its head towards Keltin, staring him down. Before keltin could even react, the beings blade was running across keltins throat, proving it was indeed razor sharp. Still unable to feel anything, keltin couldn't even struggle if he wanted to. It took only a moment for his vision to fade to black...

A metallic clanking comes from the backrooms, and Keltin looks up. He felt a sense of deja vu. The door was closed, despite him remembering it being open before the anomalies appeared. The handle twists slowly. It took keltin a moment to process everything that has happened in the past few seconds, before finally realizing he wasn't alone in the anomaly. HE felt a sense of deja vu.

Slowly backing away, keltin, looks around, panicked. Whatever was coming out of the room would very likely see him try to leave, so running wasn't an option. Looking behind him, he seen a small crawlspace underneath the rubble of the ceiling that he could squeeze into, so, as quickly as possible, keltin hides away. He felt a sense of deja vu. The backrooms door slowly opens. A metallic leg is the first thing to leave the room, followed be another. Looking up slightly, keltin can see the rest of this metallic being. It was tall, and entirely metal. It resembled a dragon, in a way, minus the wings, scales and tail. On its right arm was what looked to be a tube, though it was bent slightly. on its right arm was a long, razor sharp looking blade. there were two more tubes on the legs of the machine, and its head had a small metal rod sticking out of it. It's eyes were glowing blue, and finally, strapped on its back, was a gryphon. He felt a sense of deja vu.

Almost as if he knew what was going to happen, he quickly covered his mouth to prevent himself from making any noise. The tubes on the metallic beasts legs ignited, and it began to hover in the air. Slowly, it flew over the counter and began to walk away into the fog. A few moments passed, and Keltin crawls out of the debris he hid in. Slowly standing up, he peaks over the counter, but doesn't see anything. The machine was gone. Quietly but quickly, keltin climbs over the counter, and silently makes his way back to the entrance of the shop. The sooner he could get out of this dome, the better, he thought to himself. As he made his way passed all the overturned shelves and tables, he spots a note with a blood print on it. looking around, and seeing nothing, he picks up the note.

~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ |||

you have done this before
you keep coming back
remember
{illegible} is coming
follow the right wall
hide behind the clock
throw the vase at the left wall
run
hurry
its {illegible} you

"I remember." Keltin mumbles to himself. He hears the distinct sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air behind him. His vision goes black.

Looking behind him, Keltin seen a small crawlspace underneath the rubble of the ceiling that he could squeeze into, so, as quickly as possible, keltin hides away. He knows he's done this before. The backrooms door slowly opens. A metallic leg is the first thing to leave the room, followed be another. Looking up slightly, keltin can see the rest of this metallic being. It was tall, and entirely metal. It resembled a dragon, in a way, minus the wings, scales and tail. On its right arm was what looked to be a tube, though it was bent slightly. on its right arm was a long, razor sharp looking blade. there were two more tubes on the legs of the machine, and its head had a small metal rod sticking out of it. It's eyes were glowing blue, and finally, strapped on its back, was a gryphon. He knows he's done this before. Taking a deep, silent breath, keltin waits for the machine to fly over the counter. as soon as he can't hear the clanking of its metallic legs anymore, he crawls out of the hole and climbs over the counter. He silently makes his way to the right wall, and follows it, his eyes darting around the fog all the while. The metallic clanking can be heard again, and keltin quickly hides behind the overturned grandfather clock until the clanking went away.

Getting up, keltin picks up a fallen vase, and chucks it with all his might at the left wall. A rapid, intense clanking approaches the left wall, and keltin quickly hops over the clocks and sprints towards the doorway to leave the shop, the clanking suddenly growing louder. It was behind him. Keltin made it out of the shop, and was seconds away from leaving the dome. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a familiar note.

~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~
~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ ~~||||~~ |

you have done this before
you keep coming back
remember
{illegible} is coming
follow the right wall
hide behind the clock
throw the vase at the left wall
run
hurry
its {illegible} you
{illegible}
{illegible}
{illegible}
{illegible}

Just then, he went tumbling out of the dome, the clanking coming to a sudden halt. It was dark, and windy. A sensation Keltin hasn't felt for a long, long time. Out of breath and panting, keltin struggles to get up to his hooves.

"Hey, are you ok? What happened in there?" The zebra doctor asked him, from a distance. Just as he did, a buzzing from the anomaly could be heard once again, and a bright purple glow emits from it. "Move!" Keltin yells, fumbling to his hooves and breaking into a full sprint away from the dome. Clearly startled, the mayor and the doctor retreat back around to corner to take cover from the anomaly.

BOOM!

The anomaly implodes in on itself, leaving a crater while creating an outwards shockwave, which sends keltin flying across the street and into the side of a building.

Keltin wakes up, quickly sitting up and looking around. He was in a bed in the emergency shelter. "Doctor, he's awake!" A somewhat familiar voice calls out from beside him.

To Be Continued(?)

Author's Note

Took me a bit to get around to writing more but here it is.

I kinda get the feeling that this is all going by a little to fast, but oh well. It's just how I write.

That's all I have to say for now.

Take care
WWA, out

The Shelter

The air was warm. The spinning of the fans in the air vents filled the otherwise quiet room. "Doctor, he's awake!" A somewhat familiar voice called out. A scurrying could be heard beyond the door to the room. Though it was quickly swung open. "Ha ha! Welcome back to the land of the living, kid!" The doctor exclaimed. Keltin, though still a little out of it, was glad to see a familiar face. Looking to his side, he seen the very same nurse that was taking care of him when he was first injured by the anomaly. "What... What happened?" Keltin questions, rubbing his head. Again, his memory was a bit fuzzy.

Well you came running out of the anomaly only a second after you entered it. You looked disturbed, and told us to move, so we did exactly that," The doctor explains, "But to think the anomaly would implode like that... Tell me," The doctor closes the door behind him, "What happened in there? What caused you to run out like that?"

Silence.

"You said I was only in there for a second?" Keltin asks, confused. Maybe it was all a dream?

"Only a second." The doctor reaches into his bag and pulls out a piece of blood stained paper, "Though, we did find this." He says as he give it to Keltin.

"So all that was real..." He says as he reads over the paper, though he already was all to familiar with the contents of it. "There was... Something in there. A big metallic creature." Keltin says, putting the note down as he lays back, looking up at the ceiling. "It... killed me. again and again and again, yet, I just kept reliving the same experience repeatedly." He explains, the doctor now very clearly taking great interest, though the nurse was confused.

"I would remember a little more of what kept happening, and eventually I made a note." Keltin says. "Instructions on how to avoid it?" The doctor asks, picking up the note and looking at it. "And what are these marks for?"

"Heh." Keltin chuckles, though it was more or less to cover up the trauma. "That's how many times a remember reliving it all. How many times I died."

Silence.

The doctor laughs, then tosses the note into the garbage now that its been deciphered. "Well, that explains all the weird things happening to your body!" he says, rummaging through his bag again. "Come again?" Keltin asks, now confused. The doctor pulls out a small vile, filled with a red-purple substance. "This here is your blood," The doctor begins, showing keltin the vile. "When we went to perform surgery to try and revive you after you flew into that building, we quickly found that wouldn't be necessary." The doctor begins to explain, "Because of your prolonged exposure to the anomaly, despite it all only being a few seconds for us outside of it, completely infected your body - or rather, infested."

"Infested? What's that supposed to mean?" Keltin questions.

"Exactly as it sounds." The doctor puts the vile down on the bed and then pulls out a sealed petri dish, as well as a pocket sized microscope. "You mentioned a metal creature, yes? Take a look." The doctor says, giving keltin the petri dish and microscope. Confused and curious, keltin places the dish underneath the microscope and looks through it. "Does that and the machine you say resemble each other in any way?" The doctor asks.

"...Yes. It looks like its made of the same stuff..." Keltin mumbles, confused. "What is this, doc?" He asks, looking at him. My theory? some sort of extremely tiny machine to repair the big machines, like the one you saw."

"where'd you get this one?" Keltin asks, looking back through the microscope. "In your blood." The doctor answers, casually. Keltin pauses for a second, then looks at the doctor again, even more confused then before. The doctor clears his throat and adjusts his glasses. "These tiny little machines don't seem the last long without a purpose, from our observations. It's possible that some of them disconnected from the machine you saw, and found their way to your body," The doctor takes a seat beside the bed and puts the microscope and petri dish back into his bag. "The reason why I came to the conclusion that they are meant to repair their host should be obvious."

"What? I-" Keltin cuts himself off, then remembers something - wasn't his back broken before? "I can see the gears turning in your head, and to answer your question, yes. Your back was broken. But those little things repaired it, and all of your other injuries," The doctor pauses for a moment. "But you're truly one of a kind."

"What does that mean?" Keltins questions, though still trying to understand what the doctor was telling him. "We tried using them to heal other patients, but..." The doctor clears his throat once again, "They were ripped up from the inside out... These things - lets call them nano machines - refused to cooperate with any body other then yours. They're keeping you alive, even now. It seems that they use energy from food and drink to create more of themselves. Eventually, they stop functioning and recycle themselves," The doctor explains, thinking for a moment, "It's comparable to some modern medical parasites - those that function as a give-take relationship within their host."

"Hold on... Are you saying that these... nano machines are in my body keeping me alive? And what, they didn't like being in anypony elses body? Why? Why do they work in mine?" Keltin asks, trying his best to comprehend the situation. He feels as if he was in the anomaly for days, but it really only was a second outside of it? How does any of it make sense? It doesn't!

"Well, you were exposed to the anomaly directly, for a long time. They had the time to adjust to your body, and likely have... reprogrammed themselves to match your DNA exactly. That being said..." The doctor stands up, "this incredibly important research and information is useless, since we're cut off from the rest of the world."

"Cut off?" Keltin gets out of the bed onto his hooves, stretching as he does.

"Yes. After you left that anomaly, all the others disappeared along with it. And now a dome envelops the whole city." The doctor sighs, and makes his way to the door, opening it. "We've tried sending scouts out, but none have returned. For now, we're stuck here in the middle of the city with no knowledge of what's going on."

Quickly making his way around the bed, keltin begins to follow the doctor as he explains the state of the city. "We haven't sent any more out yet, but the mayor is planning on sending a large rescue party to try and find her daughter. If you're able, maybe you could join them?" The doctor asks him, though not letting keltin respond. "I suspect there are some of those machines lurking around in the city, and you've had more direct experience with them." Keltin stops in his tracks. "I'm not going anywhere as long as those things are still around." Keltin says.

"Unfortunately, you won't have much of a choice." A voice says from outside the room. As keltin and the doctor exit the room, the mayor comes into view. "We're sending everyone who can walk out in a few hours to scout the area and, ideally, find my daughter." The mayor who is very clearly distressed, looks at keltin. "She joined a scouting party two days ago. but hasn't returned."

Keltin was about to refuse to leave the shelter, until a more pressing concern came to mind. "Two days? How long was I out?" He then look sat the doctor for an answer.

"Four days," The mayor says, grabbing keltins attention again, "And the doctor is right. You know more about these invaders more then any of us do. We need your help." She says.

"Any information you have on them will help greatly." The doctor adds on. Keltin realized that the mayor must have been listening into the conversation if she knew about the machine, but he chose to ignore it for now. With a sigh, keltin caves and decides to tell them everything he remembered.

A Few Hours Later

"Alright!" A gruffy voice says, grabbing the attention of the citizens and soldiers alike that were gathered in the entrance hall of the shelter. "Here's the game plan!" He says, rolling out a map onto that table that was set up in front of him, as a unicorn behind him began the project a top-down view of the table onto the right wall. "We're going to the south edge of the city. Our primary goal is to find out why the other scouts haven't returned. Our secondary objective is to find survivors. Namely, the mayors daughter Raine. The Doctor and the remaining members of the city council predict that 30% of the cities population was wiped out when the anomalies appeared... And another 5% from when they suddenly disappeared. That's a lot of casualties, so we're bound to see some things we don't want to see out there." The dragon soldier explained, all the while pointing to the locations of the previous anomalies. "We all have to stick together in a big group if we want to guarantee our safe return. There's no telling what's lurking in the shadows." The whole room was silent as the dragon continued his explanation. "Fortunately, we have a certain pony here who encountered, and survived something from inside one of the anomalies." He says, looking over the crowd, who was also looking amongst themselves for this pony. "Keltin, step up." The dragon soldier says.

Silence.

Before the dragon could repeat himself, keltin sighs and steps forward, all eyes now on him. "Ah, there you are. Come on up here." Reluctantly, keltin made his way to the dragon soldier and stood beside him, at a distance. "Him and I will be taking the lead. He knows what these things sound and look like, so he'll be able to help us avoid them, should we come across them." The dragon explains.

"What are 'they', anyways?" A random pony asks. "Well," The soldier begins, "Why don't we have Keltin here tel-"

Keltin cut off the soldier, stepping forwards. "They're tall and walk on two legs. The one I had to face had a blade for a right arm, and could easily fly. They're entirely metallic. The doctor and I theorized that the one I faced was damaged, so theres no telling what else they're capable of. It had some sort of... Cannon on its left arm, so it's entirely possible they have some sort of projectile. And they're extremely fast."

A different voice from the crowd speaks up. "How did you get away? did you fight it?" The crowd looks at keltin intently, awaiting his answer. "I... Was on of the anomalies when it happened. I couldn't see well through a thick fog that was inside it, so fighting wasn't an option."

The same voice from before responds, "Then how do we know if we even can beat them?"

Clearing his throat, keltin tries to think of a way to answer the question. "Well..., While he was just trying to make something up, keltin then remembered a crucial detail. The one he faced had a body strapped to it. And if the doctors theory of 'nano machines that repair their host' was correct, then...

"They have the ability to repair themselves. The one I faced... It had the... Body of a gryphon on it, and as gruesome as it is, it was breaking the body down into energy to repair itself. So-" The dragon soldier suddenly cuts in, interrupting keltin, "If it can be fixed, and can be broken! Now that we know that's an option, there's no point in trying to avoid them if we encounter them."

"wait, have you not been listeni-" Keltin tries to say, but is again cut off. "We have nothing to fear! Let's get out there and do our jobs right!" The soldier exclaims. Though reluctant, the crowd cheers on and the shelter doors open up. The unicorn that previously was projecting the dragons map onto the wall was now levitating the table out of the way so the search party could exit the shelter.

The dragon looks to keltin, "Good work." He says, turning around and making his way out of the shelter. "I have a really really bad feeling about this..." Keltin mumbles to himself.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note

This chapter and the last was finished a week ago, but I only got around to looking over them now. Hopefully I didn't miss anything while reading over the last one or this one, since I have just now decided to post them both today instead of spacing them out.

Take care
WWA, out