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