(AMF) Update 11

>First and foremost on your mind was what Rarity had said.
>The things you could do if her answer proved to be applicable to your own talents.
>Of course, you had no real way to test it.
>Leaving aside that allowing yourself to get caught up in your work went against everything you'd learned during your existence, you needed something to get caught up in, and there seemed to be a shortage of things to throw your mind against in this world.
>While you didn't actually know anything about him, it sounded like Discord would make for a decent challenge, but he was stuck in a statue, and you weren't about to try and set him free just so you could unleash your mind on him.
>Nightmare Moon was similarly unavailable.
>A sufficiently large horde could also work, but again, there didn't seem to be any available.
>It would have to remain a mystery for now.
>Next up was yet another unnatural aspect of this world.
>These ponies apparently each had had some unique talent.
>Talent in and of itself wasn't all that surprising, but the part where it manifests as the mark on their flanks certainly was.
>If this place was the work of a wizard, they'd need to be incredibly powerful.
>House Cannith had created warforged, but even they didn't have the level of control over the process to ensure that each individual would be gifted in some way.
>Indeed, you yourself only existed because your predecessors had lacked leadership qualities.
>You'd never gotten an exact number on how many attempts they'd made at making a proper leader for their psiforged, but you knew they'd been getting close to giving up.
>The war ended before you got a chance to participate, but you'd like to believe their efforts had been worthwhile.
>Now wasn't the time to dwell on the past, though.
>With your physical examination done, Twilight was likely going to switch the topic of her questioning to your abilities, and your world.
>Your powers would be fairly straightforward to explain, for the most part.
>Maybe some demonstrations of the less hazardous ones.
>She probably wouldn't like hearing about some of them, but she'd manage.
>It was your world you were really worried about telling her about.
>You'd already given her a few glimpses, and her reactions had been very telling.
>There was going to have to be a lot of consideration into what and how you tell her.
>To ease her into the idea of just how unpleasant your reality can be, instead of just dropping it on her head like you had with the princesses.
>The rest of the night was spent going through what you knew of your world, picking out the bits that should be fine to share, and making note of what you felt was too much.
>Morning started much as it always did, breakfast for Twilight and Spike, as you waited for the day's questions to begin.
>Twilight was smiling as she prepared her quill and notepad.
"Now then, since you've given Rarity a demonstration of your powers, I'm interested in seeing what you can do for myself."
+Can't say I'm surprised. Is there somewhere out of the way we could go to? I could show off a wider variety if I don't have to worry about damaging any houses.+
"I, hmm. Maybe where Rarity goes gemhunting, it's pretty isolated, just have to watch out for diamond dogs."
>She magics over her saddlebags and starts filling them with supplies.
"So do I want to know what kinds of things you can do that could result in property damage?"
+Would we be going to a place where it's not an issue if you didn't?+
"Good point. Is there anything specific you'd want brought along for this?"
+Unless you have some volunteers to demonstrate the less visible things I can do on, no.+
"...You can't be serious."
+Only partially. With how thorough you've shown yourself to be, I wouldn't have been overly surprised if you actually had found some volunteers.+
"That isn't funny!"
+I suppose not. Are we ready to go?+
"I think so, just need to leave a note for Spike so he knows where we are in case something comes up."
>One note later, you're on your way to wherever Twilight had in mind.
>Which turned out to be a field of dirt, rocks, and holes.
"They probably wouldn't try anything with how you look, but remember what I said about diamond dogs."
>She fishes a contraption from her saddlebags and starts setting it up.
+What is that thing, anyway?+
"It's a video camera."
+Which is?+
"It records things so you can watch them again later. You just have to be standing in front of this part during your demonstrations."
+Very well. Let me know when you're ready.+
"One more thing, can you talk for a bit? It records sound too."
"Mmm."

+++Video+++

>Anonymous stands slightly off-center, facing the camera.
"--t's recording, you can go ahead and start."
"Right then. Let's start with something simple. As I showed Rarity, I can pull matter from the astral plane for assorted purposes. The particular example Rarity got was more general purpose, but there are also combat applications. For a start..."
>There is a brief low hum, then something appears next to Anonymous and shoots off towards a nearby tree, impacting with an audible thunk.
"Razor-sharp crystal. Not very pleasant on the receiving end."
"What was that noise?"
"The psionic equivalent of how your horn lights up when you use your own magic. The displays differ between powers, and between manifesters. They can also be suppressed, with a little extra concentration. Now then, while forcing the ectoplasm into some other form can be useful, it is also useful in its base form."
>He holds his hand out, and a glob of silvery goop starts growing in it. Once it starts getting too big to fit in his hand, he shifts, throwing it at something off-camera.
"Hey! Why'd you do that?!"
>A brief pause
"It's all sticky, I can't move!"
"Exactly. If I need to stop someone without hurting them, a glob of unformed ectoplasm goes a long way."
"It feels so grooooss!"
"Don't worry, it'll evaporate back into the astral plane before too long. Anyway, moving on from the uses of ectoplasm, I can also manipulate energy."
>Anonymous walks over to the tree he'd launched a chunk of crystal at, breaks off a dead branch, and returns to his position in front of the camera.
>Another hum, higher pitched this time, as well as longer lasting.
>As the hum continues, the end of the branch begins to smoke, and then catches on fire.
"Nothing particularly fancy in that example, the same could be accomplished by rubbing sticks together quick enough. For fancy, I can skip the stick and just make fire."
>He points at a patch of dirt in the distance, a deep hum, and a blast of fire shoots off, scorching the ground where it hits.
"And if you don't want fire, not a problem."
>He shifts where he's pointing to, and launches another blast, this one a crackle of lightning.
>Another shift, another blast, bluish, leaving a faint trail of mist, and a ring of frost where it impacts.
>Shift, blast. This one was less visible than the others, seeming to be nothing but a ripple in the air, but having a noticeable impact on the ground, kicking up a small spray of dirt.
"What was that last one?"
"Do you know how sound works?"
"Of course!"
"What do you suppose happens if, instead of letting a sound spread out and lose its energy, you force that energy to remain focused in a small area?"
"...Remind me to never let you meet Vinyl, there is no possible way that could end well."
>Anonymous begins moving away.
"Now then, those were focused manifestations, if needed, I can create more... impressive displays."
"Why are you moving away from the camera, if you get too far, it won't be able t--"
>Anonymous is briefly lost from view as a massive fireball erupts around him.
>Twilight rushes over to him when the flames clear.
"Anon! Are you ok?"
"Of course I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"
"But the fire--"
"Was directed outwards. I'm not a moron, I'm not about to do something that could hurt me. On that note..."
>Anon walks back towards the camera, and carefully picks up the stick he had discarded earlier, which was still burning merrily.
"I can create energies, and I can also dissipate them."
>He shifts his grip on the stick, now holding it by the part that is on fire, and the crystals studding his body light up.
"It's not perfect, a dragon could probably breathe more than enough fire to still burn me, but I can convert the worst of it into harmless light."
"How does that even work?"
"I take the energy from the fire, and turn it into a less harmful energy. And now, for my next trick..."
>Anon throws the stick into the air.
>As it begins its return to the ground, there's a silver shimmer, and the stick is gone.
"...Where'd you teleport the stick to?"
"Not where, when."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense. I nudged the stick into the future."
>The stick reappears exactly where it had been, and completes its descent.
"Doesn't look like it made it too far into the future, how is that supposed to be useful?"
"It all depends on the circumstances. Suppose you're trying to hide from someone. A door can have squeaky hinges, which could give away your location. If, for a few moments at least, there is NO door..."
"...then it can't squeak its hinges."
"Exactly. Plus, if you get caught, you could also push the someone into the future and get away before they reappear. This last one I'll need your help to demonstrate, can you quick use your magic to lift me up?"
>Twilight moves next to Anon and charges her horn, the magic aura surrounding him as he lifts up.
"Ok, now set me back down."
"I don't see what this was supposed to demonstrate."
"It was demonstrating that you ARE able to lift me normally. Try and lift me now."
>Anon's eyes begin to glow a bright silver as twilight's magic surrounds him a second time.
>This time, he does not budge.
"Wha... how?"
"It's... tricky to explain. The simplest explanation would be that I took a moment of time, and locked myself into it. It's rather taxing to maintain, but for that brief time I am functionally invulnerable. Here, give it a try, hit me with your best shot."
"That doesn't sound safe at all."
"I wouldn't offer if I didn't think I'd be fine."
"Okay..."
>Twilight backs up a bit, levels her horn at Anonymous, and zaps him with a rather unimpressive beam of energy.
>Anonymous looks down at where the beam impacted, with no sign of damage.
"That doesn't seem at all like the best shot of someone good enough to be Celestia's prize student. Again, and stronger!"
>Another beam, this one bigger than the previous.
>As with the first beam, Anon is unaffected.
"Better, but I'm still not convinced you're giving it your all. Again!"
>Twilight prepares another beam, her horn glowing bright with gathered energy.
>Moments before impact, Anon's eyes lose their glow, and he takes the hit like a champ.
>Specifically, he is launched backwards by the impact, leaving a long furrow in the dirt, ending up off-camera.
"ANON!"
>Twilight rushes over to him.
"I thought you said it made you invul--OH CELESTIA THERE'S A HOLE IN YOU!"
"I'm fine."
"HOW CAN YOU BE FINE!? THERE'S! A! HOLE! IN! YOU!"
"I know there is. Calm down, let's get back over to the camera."
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO BE CALM AT A TIME LIKE THIS, I JUST SHOT A HOLE IN YOU, I'M SUPPOSED TO BE STUDYING YOU, NOT DESTROYING YOU!"
>Anonymous walks back on-camera, Twilight on his heels, looking extremely frazzled.
>There is indeed a large chunk missing from Anon's torso, and some fluid seems to be leaking from it.
"The hole is going to be going away shortly, did you want to make any diagrams of my inner workings first?"
"...Did you seriously let me do that to you so I could take notes? ARE YOU CRAZY?!"
"No, I let you hit me with your spell so I could show you that I can repair myself. Diagrams are a happy side-effect."
"You are INSANE. What if I'd hit something really important? WHAT IF I'D KILLED YOU?!"
"If I seriously thought you'd have been able to kill me, I wouldn't have let it hit. Now, since it seems like you aren't going to calm down..."
>Anon's hand moves to where the injury is, and the damage is quickly coated in a rippling sheet of ectoplasm, which slowly expands outwards, then evaporates, leaving an intact torso.
"Very useful when you don't have the time or material for a more traditional repair job."
"You're still crazy. Why didn't you tell me what you were planning?"
"Because you wouldn't have done it if you knew what would happen."
"Because it's completely crazy!"
"I never claimed to be sane. You can turn off the camera now, unless you'd like to join me in crazyland and be a test subject for my mind powers."
>Twilight moves to behind the camera.
"Not for all the books in--"

+++Anonymous+++

>The trip back to the treebrary was quiet.
>Twilight was still upset with you, but you weren't worried.
>You had given her a rather big shock.
>Her reaction had been curious.
>You'd been expecting some kind of breakdown, but instead, she just got all worked up.
>It seemed like she could handle herself in a crisis.
>Perhaps the difference is that she can do something about a crisis.
>Further tests would be difficult to set up, she'd probably be second-guessing everything you suggest for a while.
>There was always the direct approach.
>It might get her through the anger quicker if you simply told her what you were doing, and why.
>Not today though, she needed time to cool down first.