My eyes shoot open and I look frantically around. Lightning is laying next to me with Arrow sitting next to him. Thunder and Rose are on my other side. I steady my breathing and ask, “What happened?”

“You passed out from blood loss,” Thunder informs me. “Luckily, while we were dealing with Lightning, you managed to patch yourself up to stop from losing any more. We’ve haven’t moved from this building since then. The sun has already set, so it looks like we are spending the night here,” he concludes.

“What about Lightning,” I ask. “Is he alright?” I look over at Lightning’s sleeping form. His chest rises and falls steadily. It looks like they took his armor off and patched him up. His rear legs are covered in bandages and his armor’s rear leggings have been completely shredded.

“Well, he’ll be gimping along for a while, but it isn’t anything too bad. Iron had similar injuries the first time he encountered a manticore and the only lasting sign of that was some scarring. He’s lucky he got as far through the doorway as he did,” Thunder sighs.

“I see,” I mutter, recalling Lightning being tossed through the air by the manticore. I shake my head and look around to distract me from the thought. It appears as if we are in an office. It has a sturdy metal door and a reinforced glass window looking out into the rest of the building. The office itself consists of a metal desk with a wooden chair and a single filing cabinet.

On top of the desk is a terminal, a worn calendar, and a few sheets of yellowed paper. “Have you looked at anything in this office yet?” I ask them.

“No, we’ve just been watching over you two,” Thunder replies. “If you want to loot, go right ahead, we saved it just for you,” he says with a smirk. I roll my eyes, but turn my attention to the filing cabinet.

I’m still a bit shaky as I get to my hooves and walk over to it. However, upon opening it I find it oddly empty. “Huh, not even files,” I mutter. I look at the papers on the desk, but they are just are too worn out to decipher. Then I notice the metal wastebasket next to the desk. It is full of ashes. “Did they burn all the files? Why would they do that?” I question, though to no one in particular.

Next, I begin digging through the desk drawers. I find a whole lot of nothing, aside from a keyring with two keys on it. I pocket them and plop down in the wooden chair, inspecting the terminal. Other than a bunch of dust, it doesn’t seem damaged. I hit the power button and wipe away some of the dust on the screen with my hoof.

As it boots up, I stretch my limbs. I let out a soft moan while doing so. “Damn, I don’t think i’ve ever felt this bad,” I mutter. Two wounded legs, a bunch of buckshot in my chest, and a bunch of small cuts on my face and body. What I wouldn’t give to just sleep for a week.

The logo of the M.A.S. flashes on the screen momentarily before going to a list of options. “Wait, MAS? Hey CORA, you there?” I ask, looking at my PipBuck. I don’t see her in my vision at the moment. “CORA, can you hear me? I have a question,” I say again.

After a few moments, her face appears in my vision. “Hey Ratchet, sorry, I was over near Fillydelphia. Nothing to report! Though, I do think someone else is using the Spritebots, but that isn’t too important. Anyone with a decent knowledge of them and radio signals could do so,” she says with a dismissive smile. “So, what’s up?” She asks.

“This terminal had a MAS logo on startup. Can you tell if this is an MAS facility?” I ask her, using my PipBuck’s cable to hook into the terminal. Her face moves from my vision onto the terminal. It looks around for a moment before smiling.

“It appears so,” CORA reports. “Oh yea, since it is night, I suspect you’ll be staying here, right?” She asks. I nod, and she rolls her eyes. “You know I can’t normally see gestures, right? Luckily, the facility has multiple cameras throughout. Anyway, boop!” she declares as an option highlights.

The option marked ‘Facility Operations’ is selected which brings up another list I barely read ‘Lockdown’ before it is selected and lights begin flashing through the window. I hear grating metal as the lights flash for a few moments and a voice comes over an intercom, “Facility Lockdown has been initiated. All exits have been sealed.” The flashing lights turn off once again.

“If you don’t plan on leaving, and since you left a gaping hole in the facility, I thought a lockdown would be effective at keeping you all safe,” CORA says as she returns the terminal’s selections back to the main menu.

Thunder gets up and walks over beside me. “But that also means that we are trapped with anything still in here. If this is a MAS facility like you say, i’m sure there are defences and the like, correct?” he says, concern clearly visible on his face.

“Indeed! However, I’ve already overwritten their targeting parameters. There shouldn’t be anything hostile to you in here. Even if there do happen to be the odd raider or radroach lurking around, the turrets will take them out for you,” CORA replies.

“Nice work,” I tell her. “So, what all does the facility consist of? Because it looks like a normal factory on this level,” I ask. That’s not to say that a simple factory couldn’t be a MAS facility. In fact, the MAS owned, or took over, quite a few factories to produce specific items for them during the war.

CORA scrunches up her muzzle as she quickly changes directories on the terminals faster than I can read them. “It says the factory was used to make water talismans. Though, this report states they shut down production a week before the war ended. No stock remains of them either, so no loot there,” she says sadly.

I roll my eyes, “You know, i’m not obsessed with loot.” Geez, what was with everypony. They are all, ‘Oh hey, here’s some loot, better give it to Ratchet.’ “What else you got,” I ask CORA.

“Hmmmmm,” she says, flicking through more files. “There are two levels below us, but I can’t find any information on them. They don’t even show up on the building schematics. But, I’m able to access their cameras and turrets, so I know they are there,” she answers, confused. “There’s also a large dark spot I can’t access at the center of the bottom level. A large cylindrical area in the middle of it,” she says.

“Do you know how we can get down to those levels?” I ask her.

“There appears to be a freight elevator at the far end of this floor. But according to this, it only goes up to the roof for deliveries and shipments. Nothing of note up there, either,” she tells me.

“I see. I’ll go take a look,” I say, getting up off the chair. “You coming back into my PipBuck, or are you going to hang out in there for a while?” I ask CORA.

“I’ll stay in here. I can keep an eye on you with the cameras. If I change my mind, you just have to find another linked terminal. I’ll talk to you over the intercom system,” she says. I remove my PipBuck’s cable from the terminal and open the door to the factory floor. Thunder gets up to come with me.

“You stay here,” I tell him. “CORA can cover me with turrets if anything happens. Since the only entrances are up here, I’d feel better if you are up here with everyone else if something decides to try and break in,” I say, giving him a reassuring smile.

“Whatever you say, boss,” Thunder replies, sitting back down. “Stay safe down there,” he tells me as I walk out of the door.

Now that I have time to look around at the factory floor properly, it looks like a normal factory. Large machines with conveyor belts take up much of the space, including an arcane imprinter used to imprint the talismans with magic. Empty crates line the sides of the building. They probably used to hold raw materials for the talismans before production was shut down.

I make my way towards the back of the factory, and find a large freight elevator, like CORA said. It is essentially a large platform with four large beams going up to the ceiling, where a sealed hatch would normally be. Now, a thick steel door has closed over it.

I get onto the elevator and look at the single button on the raised console. Beside the button, is a keyhole. “Well, worth a shot,” I mutter, drawing out the keyring and trying the first key. Not even close. The try the second key, and after some negotiating, it slides into place. I turn the key and nothing happens.

I wait for a moment and then shrug and press the button. The platform lurches and rises up a few inches. I think it is going to keep rising, but it stops. Suddenly, the concrete below the elevator moves down and slides back into the floor revealing a dark hole. Once the floor is out of the way, the elevator moves back down and proceeds into the darkness.

After a moment, lights begin to kick on and illuminate a rectangular concrete room with a single door. Once the elevator reaches the bottom, I notice the two turrets on either side of the door. I take the keys with me as I get off the elevator and walk up to the door. Locked. I try the other key, and it opens.

Beyond the door is a long concrete hallway with various doors along it. As I begin to walk down the hall, I peek in a few of the doors. They look like bedrooms. The entire hall is filled with bedrooms. As I reach the end and make a right turn the hallway continues. I notice a few cameras and turrets on the ceiling as I walk.

“CORA, how big is this level?” I ask her. It seems like just a bunch of living quarters.

“This floor isn’t that big. The one below is about four times as big. You’ll reach another corner up here,” she says, and right as she does, I take another right turn. “At the end of this hall, you’ll find a staircase. This level is all living quarters, it looks like,” She tells me.

After a few minutes, I reach the stairs she mentioned. It is a long metal staircase. I begin to descend and my hoofs echo loudly on the metal stairs with each step. One flight, two flights, three flights. “I HATE STAIRS!” I yell, receiving a resounding echo in return. Climbing back up these was going to be a pain.

Two more flights later, I reach the bottom. I open the door to exit the staircase and the concrete surroundings I had gotten used to turn into an almost blinding white. I say almost, because with all the dust it has dulled quite a bit. The semi-circular room is filled with desks, terminals, and chairs. It looks like an office, but a lot more scientific. On the opposite side of the room, a rounded convex wall exists. On my left and right, as the room rounds, I can see doors on both sides.

Seeing nothing spectacular in this room, I decide to head to the door on my right. As I walk towards it, I look around the room. Random papers scattered everywhere, empty filing cabinets, and bins full of ash. “More destruction of files?” I mutter. Even some of the terminals appear to have been destroyed.

I’d expected to see bones somewhere, but i’ve not seen a single one since entering, not even in the factory. It is like this whole place was abandoned, but left running. It has power and everything. I reach the door and proceed through it. This room is less like an office and more like a library. Various desks full of books lay scattered about and shelves lined the room. The left wall, was also convex.

It was like CORA said, there is a cylindrical shape in the middle of this floor. I look at some of the books, wondering why they weren’t destroyed along with the files. But they are just random books on magic. Even some on zebra magic and other magic i’ve never heard of. Just then I recall Grimoire’s plan. Finding ancient and destructive magics.

“Oh no, I’m going to have to destroy all these, aren’t I?” I ask no one in particular, setting down a book I was looking at called ‘Imagination and You!’. I resolve to deal with the books later, and head through the next door. Judging by the length of these rooms, the next room would be directly across from the first one.

I open the door and take in the next room. It appears to be a medical room of sorts. There are shelves that would have probably contained medical goods, but they are now bare. In the center of the room, is a single padded chair that was more than likely used for treatment. I riffled through some drawers, but they are all empty. Not even a single bandage remains.

As I near the door on the other side of a room, I notice an odd looking metal case to the door’s right. It looks to be some sort of dispenser. There is a button on the front of it, with a retrieval tray near the bottom. I shrug, and push the bottom. After some whirring of gears the sound of plastic crumpling reaches my ears. I reach down with a hoof and pick up whatever it is the machine dropped.

Wrapped in plastic, preserved from before the war, is one, beautiful, sexy, brilliantly white, lab coat. I let out a squee of delight as I tear the plastic open with my magic while throwing off my bags. I pull the lab coat from the plastic, unfold it, and quickly slip my front legs into the sleeves. I look around frantically for a mirror and find one, though a bit dusty to the right of the machine.

I rear up on my rear hooves and put my front hooves in the coat’s pockets while striking my most badass scientist pose in front of the mirror. I look at myself in the mirror, beautiful white lab coat, blood covered barding, dirty silver coat, singed ice blue mane, and a face full of small cuts, caked with blood. My smile disappears as I slowly fall back onto my front hooves.

I sigh and look back over the room. Specifically at a small rectangular room I overlooked that is marked ‘Restroom’. I walk over to it, open the door, and walk inside. A toilet, a sink, and a mirror. Simple, but good enough. I turn a knob on the sink. “Please, please, please…” I mutter. The faucet sputters to life and spits out some brown gunk before it runs slightly dirty water.

My PipBuck clicks softly and I hold my hooves under the water and splash water on my face, being careful not to make a mess of my new coat. I wipe my face with my hooves for a while before I’m satisfied with my reflection in the mirror. It want to strip down and take the time to clean my entire body, but I don’t want to keep the others waiting longer than I have to. A clean face will have to do, for now.

I exit the bathroom, return to the machine, and put my bags back on. I’m about to go through the next door, when I look back at the machine. I look suspiciously back and forth before hammering the button a few times. The machine spits out three more lab coats before a red ‘Out of Stock’ light comes on. Whistling to myself, I put them in my bag and head into the next room.

This room, I would equate to a classroom. There was a single desk in the middle and two chalkboards in front of it. A few chairs sat at the other side of the room, facing the desk. I also see numerous chests behind the chalkboards. My attention is drawn to something on top of one of these chests. I walk over and inspect it.

It was armored barding, heavier than the one I was currently wearing. The armor was dusty, but other than that it appears to be perfectly fine. As I pick it up, a piece of paper falls from it. I float the paper up to read it. ‘Instructor use only,’ it read. I toss the paper aside along with my bags. I then take off my lab coat and very carefully make sure to keep it grasped in my magic and not touching anything as I take off my current armor and put on the new set.

I put my coat back on, along with my bags, and look over my old armor. Covered in blood, multiple holes in the front from when the buckshot hit me, and a few holes elsewhere. It served me well up until now, but it wasn’t designed to be used in prolonged combat. Originally, it was supposed to be used in the event my lab was attacked.

That being said, it wasn’t in horrible condition. It might be worth keeping to sell at some point. I put it in my already bulging bags and open the chests. Empty. No surprise there. The rest of this facility has been starkly devoid of loot. I turn my attention back to the rest of the room. The door opposite I came in would just lead back to the first room. However, this room has a third door. This door leads into the center area. I walk past the chalkboards and the desk and up to the door.

It is far sturdier than the other doors, and appears to be locked. To the left of it, is a terminal set into the wall. I look back at the desk for a moment, wondering if there might be a password laying around somewhere. That’s when I notice the chalkboard’s contents. Diagrams of weaponry. Not just simple drawings either.

One was a 10mm SMG, shown torn down into its individual parts. Each part was then broken down into the specific materials that make up the part. On the other board, was a diagram of a 10mm bullet. Like the SMG, it was torn down into parts, and then those parts broken into specific materials. It was like, what you would need to know to make the items from scrap.

I turn away from the strangely specific diagrams and look in the desk. Nothing, no passwords. Turning back to the terminal, i hit a few keys to wake it up. After a moment the displays a login screen.

>Hello M.A.S. Personnel
>Only Authorized Individuals Are Allowed Beyond This Point
>Please Input Credentials
>
>Username: _

For some reason, I shrug and go with it. Typing in my name and pressing enter.

>Username: Ratchet
>Password: _

Again, I type in my M.A.S. password and hit the enter key.

>Access Granted.
>Welcome, Chief Researcher Ratchet

>Unlock Door

With there only being one option, I unlock the door. As i do so, I hear the sound of metal grinding on metal and the hiss of air. I pull the door open and step inside the center room. My eyes go wide in surprise.

Inside the cylindrical room, right in the center, is a cryogenic pod similar to my own. While slightly different in design, I can tell what it is immediately. “Is this one of those projects, Twilight?” I mutter as i step further into the room. Other than the pod, I notice a desk with a terminal on it as the only other furniture in the room.

But the room itself is crazy in design. It isn’t made of the same material as the rest of the rooms were, but is instead thick reinforced concrete covered in some sort of rubbery black material. In places, large chunks of this black material have been blown away, almost as if something explosive hit it. There are also various bullet holes of varying size all over the room. “What is this?” I question.

I swallow as I approach the terminal and turn it on. There are two options.

>Research Records
>Chamber Operations

I open the records entry and a large amount of files are displayed. The one at the top is titled ‘READ FIRST’. I open it and begin reading.

Years! No, decades of work for nothing! We were making progress, but now the higher-ups have declared this project “Too dangerous”. Can you believe that? Our project has the ability to change the tide of this war. No more need to manufacture weapons, no need for unicorns with magic megaspells, with our research, anything is possible!

But no, here I am, being told to write a final log. Why, I don’t even know. Bureaucracy at work. It isn’t enough that they shut down my facility a week ago and removed my subject to the Fluttershy Medical Center to be kept in stasis while they did SOMETHING to my facility. Now, I can’t even get into the central chamber. OF MY OWN FACILITY!

The last time I saw my subject, when they brought him back here after renovations to my facility, he wasn’t happy. Those stasis chambers are insane. Keeping a pony alive indefinitely, but all the while they are still conscious? He must have heard something about what they planned on doing, because he had to be sedated, and even then he was kept gagged.

No matter what he did, he didn’t mean to. He just couldn’t control it yet. I told them I only needed time. But, apparently three deaths was too many. Even though hundreds, thousands more die in the war. I don’t know what they are planning for him, they aren’t telling me anything. I will get him back, I will get my facility back. Even if I have to take this up with Miss Twilight Sparkle herself!

Consider this my last entry, UNTIL I GET MY FACILITY BACK!

-Doctor Andromeda

Ok, that didn’t really tell me too much. I begin to read entry after entry.

Entry #1 - I’ve been granted funding for my research! This is the greatest moment of my life! I really hope my wife never sees this. Anyhow, my research seeks to find a way to combine various ideas of magic in order to create a new type of magic that can create anything and give it physical, if temporary form.

Entry #21 - My original theory to create anything, is a bit much. I have revised it to creating anything that exists currently, as it is hard to imagine that which does not already exist in a physical form. Harder yet to give said imaginary item actual, physical form.

Entry #57 - I have determined that it is impossible to simply learn this new form of magic. Despite how many spell matrices and inscriptions I create, nothing works how I want it to. I have recently obtained some Zebra books, as well as some, strange, foreign books about types of magic i’ve never heard about. According to some of these, it is possible to infuse body parts with magic. I will begin testing immediately.

Entry #60 - Despite attempts to infuse my own body with various magics, I have failed. My body rejects it, and the effects wear off almost instantly. There is one thing I have left to try. It may take a few years, but I think I might be onto something. Using my own DNA, I will create a clone, so to speak. I will infuse this clone with this magic while it is still developing. Hopefully in the developmental stages, the cells will be more likely to accept inscription.

Entry #81 - The inscription process has been a success! The cells are retaining the magic and developing. I wonder about how I can enable my clone to control this magic, but I will begin working on that while they develop.

Entry #227 - Today is my clone’s fifth “birthday”. Cygnus has grown up healthy, despite not developing a horn. Odd, considering he is made from my DNA. He is more Earth Pony than Unicorn, but he seems to understand how magic works when it is explained to him, despite being able to do any himself. Tomorrow, we will begin testing my theory which will allow him to control his latent magical ability.

Entry #231 - The runes have been tattooed and infused with the proper magic. It took a while, especially the one on his tongue. Cygnus was quite brave, however. Despite how much it must have hurt, he toughed it out. Like father, like son, I suppose? Once he recovers a bit, we shall begin testing.

Entry #235 - A spark! A brilliant spark! I don’t know how, but when Cygnus stuck out his tongue, electricity seemed to crackle around it. In front of him, something was taking shape, I saw the ghost of a doll we were using as a test subject, but it remained transparent and never took form. The whole event only lasted for a few seconds. But still, it is progress.

Entry #257 - Words! Words! Oh, I have been blind! It was all in that foreign book! Words ARE power! But words only seem to be part of it. While attempting the doll test again, I had Cygnus describe the doll as he focused on forming it. What color it was, how big it was, if it had a smile, that sort of thing. The doll became more opaque than usual, but my hoof passed right through it. There has to be something else.

Entry #301 - Of course, it was so simple. I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier. Words and descriptions are only part of it. What he needs to know is KNOW an object. Not just what it is, what it is made out of. Down to the last detail. Is it iron or steel? Exactly how heavy is it? A doll might be too complex. I am going to start him off simpler tomorrow.

Entry #302 - Success! Cygnus was able to create a sheet of paper! After telling him the weight, dimensions, and the materials that made it, he was able to make an exact copy while reciting the information. I picked it up, wrote on it, and even cut my leg with it. However, after a short time, it disappeared. The lead from my pencil fell to dust and remained, as did the cut on my leg, however the paper itself was gone.

Entry #371 - Despite countless attempts, we have been unable to permanently keep an item Cygnus creates. We even attempted to constantly infuse it with magic, but to no avail. Instead, we are working on his endurance, as making a single item takes a large toll on him.

Entry #503 - Given that Cygnus is now in his late teens, we have begun teaching him the makeup of weaponry. He is able to create knives and armor, and the time these items exists in our world is getting longer and longer.

Entry #505 - Tragedy has occurred. While summoning a grenade, Cygnus mistakenly added a volatile component, it exploded instantly, killing the Tulip, who was observing the test today. Cygnus was horribly shocked and kept apologizing over and over again. I will give him a while to rest, while I deal with arrangements for Tulip.

Entry #-621 - A second death has happened. During a live fire exercise in the central chamber, Cygnes appeared to have lost control while shooting a rocket launcher. The blast did significant damage to the wall, but the destruction from the blast sent chunks of concrete flying at Pond, who was struck in the head and killed instantly. Cygnus was inconsolable. We have decided to ban tests on explosives for now.

Entry #679 - We are being shut down. A third death occurred while Cygnus and Static were in the central chamber today. The details are unknown. We heard a scream and found Static dead with multiple bullet holes in her chest and Cygnus was holding his head, rocking back and forth in the center of the room. For whatever reason, he had the strangest expression on his face. It was almost like a smile, but I think I was seeing things, as tears were streaming down his face. He wouldn’t talk about what happened. Regardless, when the higher-ups found out about it, they declared my testing over, and took control of my facility and Cygnus. I’ll fight them on this. Three deaths are a small price to pay for the key to winning the war.

That is the final entry. Luckily, most of the entries were short, but I still manage to eat up a large chunk of the night. I had to go out and assure CORA I was safe at one point, though. She started calling for me, worried since I had been in the room for so long. I stretch my limbs as I exit to the main menu of the terminal. I select Pod Operations and two options display.

>Open Pod

>Purge Pod

I swallow. Purge as in...kill? I recall Twilight’s words about the projects. Some were dangerous, some were not. But if there was a kill switch for a dangerous project, why not dispose of it in the first place? Why keep it frozen in time? I shake my head. “No point thinking about that now, this comes first,” I decide.

Cygnus, that was the name of this subject, this pony. From the logs, he didn’t sound bad, just unable to properly control his ability or making mistakes. But that last entry was of some concern to me. What happened that last time? Did Cygnus do it on purpose? Or, was it actually an accident?

I take a breath and close my eyes, thinking things over. Opening my eyes, I select ‘Open Pod’. I get up from the chair and walk towards the pod. I couldn’t just kill a pony without seeing them myself, I also couldn’t just walk away. Anxiety rose in me as the pod swung open, and after a moment a sharp breath came from the pod.

A hoof reached over the edge, then another. After a moment, Cygnus got to his hooves, shaking his head and blinking his eyes. After a moment, he looks at me. “H-Hey, I know this is going to sound odd, but,” I trail off as he sticks out his tongue. Electricity begins to spark around it as he glares at me.

“Tempered steel, flat, sharpened to a point. Handle, bound in leather from cowhide. Total weight, 28.34 grams. Total length, 22.86 centimeters,” Cygnus says so fast I barely catch it all. As he does so, a combat knife begins to take shape and solidifies in front of his muzzle. I take a step back as he bites down on the handle.

He charges at me, so quick I can’t move in time. He plants the knife right against my neck, his right eye inches from my face, but stops. I can feel the blade cut me and blood dribbling down my neck. “Who are you,” he says through the handle.

“R-Ratchet. My name is Ratchet,” I tell him, staring into his eye and not daring to move.

“Why are you here?” Cygnus asks without skipping a beat, applying more pressure to the knife.

“I want to help,” I say, regaining my composure.

“Where is my father?” he asks.

“You mean, Doctor Andromeda? He’s…” I hesitate for a moment before saying, “dead. I’m sorry.”

He applies more pressure to the knife. “Did you kill him?” he says with anger apparent in his voice.

“No, but..” I start to say, but he cuts me off.

“Then why are you apologising?” he counters.

“Because...you’ve been frozen,” I tell him, giving him a serious look. “For a few decades, using technology I originally made. If you, put the knife down, I can explain further,” I suggest.

He continues looking into my eye for a few moments before he blinks for the first time and pulls the knife away from my neck. He takes a few steps back and the knife disappears completely. I fall to my haunches and lift a hood to rub the cut on my neck.

“Alright. Start talking,” he demands.

Author's Notes:

So, this "New Magic" is based off of something known as Kotodama. It is an old myth that beliefs that divine power resides in words and gives them power. Incidentally, I based this specifically off of Isone Kotoha from Yozakura Quartet. Watch her summon a railway howitzer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFvP3zup67M

Also, this is the tongue thing: