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// Chapter 4: The wonders of technology 
// Story: Steampunk: The start of a new age 
// by Philosopher Brony 
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     Similarly to the Flim Flam brothers, Sir. Cog Steam constructed his own factory within two weeks. The factory was placed on what once was Sweet Apple Acres! It was designed in a similar way with a few buildings here and there, but there was two large cooling towers near the back. There were also quarries scattered across the fields digging deep into the ground, and the occasional cheer could be heard. Even deeper in the factory was a really huge platform that was meant for constructing large objects. Only after a week of the factory working to its limits, Cog arranged for an announcement to the whole town in front of the entrance of the factory. There was a platform with two large megaphones that were placed to face the crowd. The megaphones were hooked up to tools that connected to a small device on the podium that stood in the center. Behind the podium were multiple objects of bering sizes were covered in tarps. Cog soon emerged from out of nowhere to a waiting audience that was the majority of Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie were in the crowd waiting to see what crazy thing would be revealed this time. Pinkie Pie only came because of curiosity and there was nothing better for her to do today. Sir. Steam walked up to the podium, tapped on a device on it, and began the presentation. His voice was blasted out of  the megaphones, and spread evenly across the crowd.
"Good morning Ponyville! I am Sir. Cog Steam, and I will be showing you the marvels of advanced technology! Today, I will show you a few inventions that will be available soon, and how they will be powered. I also wish to have all questions and comments to be held until after the presentation. Now... Onto the wonderful mineral that will power these devices!" Cog said to the crowd. One of the cloaked objects was brought forward, and it was revealed. The object was a purple crystal that was around Cog's size. He smiled, then continued: "This is the magnificent mineral that will be the main power source of my inventions. It is called: Maginium! Before those little questions start, I will explain what this does. Maginium has a very special property that helps improve the use of magic. Any form of magic that is passed through Maginium will be magnified 100%!" Some ponies cheered while others began to get excited. 
Pinkie's jaw dropped at the site of it, let out a gasp, and said in a rush: "THAT'S IT! I NEED TO DO, um, SOMETHING PINKIE PIE RELATED!" She raced off out of the crowd, and into a random direction.
Cog continued: "I will now do a live demonstration of how it will work. If you may have noticed, this particular one is hooked up to the row of lights that are lined along the edge of the stage. All I have to do now it cast a small electricity spell on it." He leaned his head forward and shot a bolt of electricity at the crystal. The electricity jumped across the surface of the crystal until it was adsorbed. The Maginium started to glow and it sent out an electrical signal. Shortly after, all the lights were lit and everyone awed at it in amazement.
Again, Cog continued: "I can see that you all are impressed by this. BUT! This is only the method of powering the devices that I am about to present." Another cloaked object was brought forward and revealed. The device looked like a copper and wood box that latched onto a small cloud above it. There were small propellers located on the edges, and they would act as it's method of movement. Horns were imbedded on the box's four sides, and a small orb on the bottom of it. "Before I tell you what it is. I want to tell you why I made it. From what I  have heard over the past few days, I started getting worried for the safety of Ponyville citizens. Crime has became an issue that must be eliminated, and this machine will help expose criminals right in the act. I present to you... The 'Crime Alarm Bot' or CAB for short." Even more ponies cheered this time. "Now, to demonstrate how it works." A pony walked onto the stage and stood next to Cog. "My associate here will help." Another pony walked over to the device and activated the CAB. The small box was lifted into the air by the cloud, and the orb on the bottom started glowing green. Cog pulled out some bits, and held them out to the pony next to him. The mare snatched the bits then Cog said: "Oh no. Somepony has stollen my bits." The CAB's light turned red after hearing this. It flew overtop the mare and started blasting it's alarm which caused the mare to try to get away from it, but the CAB remained over her the entire time. Cog reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a box with an antenna. He pressed a button which made the CAB stop, and it's light turned back to green. "See, not only will it alert the nearest police officer, it will also keep up the the criminal as well!" Even more ponies cheered after the demonstration. "The CAB will be supped to the police force for free, and it will be for purchase in one week! Onto the next invention that will also be available for purchase." As another object was brought up Cog said: "I am very prod of this one. This particular invention took a very long time until I got it just right, and it turned out better than expected!" The device was shown to the crowd, but Twilight was too far away to be able to identify and details. "This marvel of science is called the 'Magic Output Enhancer' or MOE. To explain, this device will increase the magical capability of the user. I will demonstrate how effective it is." He preformed the electricity spell again, but he directed it up into the air. Cog put the MOE on his head and attached it to his horn. The spell was cast one more time in the same manner. This time, instead of looking like static shooting through the air, it now was a bolt of lightning that perched the sky. Nearly ever pony cheered that this. Twilight remained calm in the crowd even though she was compiled the cheer like the rest of them. Cog seemed pleased about the crowd's cheers. "You now what. I think that I should reward you all with a special gift. When I set up my shop in the bazaar in a couple of days, I will offer a discount for the first twenty customers when it opens!" Ponies cheered madly at the announcement, even Twilight wanted to cheer but she didn't know why. Sir. Cog Steam finished the presentation by saying: "I'm sorry to say that the presentation is over, but I am open for interviews and I hope to see you all at my shop in a few days!" He walked off stage as the crowd cheered madly once again. The inventions were taken off stage, and the crowd dispersed when all the journalist raced over the Cog.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie rushed through town to Carousel Boutique. Once she reached her destination, Pinkie started hammering on the door till the point of bursting apart. Luckily, Rarity answered it before that happened, and was greeted by a very strange version of Pinkie Pie. Instead of her usual happy and energetic party pony, Rarity saw a both serious and frantic looking pony. 
Without a chance to ask what was wrong, Pinkie said: "Rarity! Thank Celestia that I found you. Quick! I need you to get Spike, and meet me over at Sugar Cube Corner in ten minutes!"
"Why? What's going on Pinkie? Is there something wrong?" Rarity asked the pink earth pony, but she wan't given a clear answer.
"Not enough time! The fate of Equestria's future is hanging in the balance, and I need you and Spike to help me save it! Now quit dilly dallying and get moving! I still need to get the supplies!" Before the unicorn could ask another question, the party pony ran off at full speed towards the bazaar. Rarity couldn't help but follow Pinkie's request. Pinkie had seemed so serious and scared about it. Also, Rarity had nothing else to do today, so she set off for the library to fetch Spike.
Rarity arrived at the tree library in under two minutes which left her with eight according to Pinkie's request. She knocked on the door a couple of times then waited for an answer. A baby dragon by the name of Spike opened the door, and he saw the pony of his dreams on the other side. 
Spike greeted his unexpected guest: "He- Hello Rarity. What brings you here?"
"Hello Spike. Pinkie asked me to get you, then meet her at Sugar Cube Corner."
"Do you know why?"
"No, but she seemed serious when she asked me. From what I can remember, she said something about the fate of Equestria's future is in the balance or something like that."
"Equestria's future!?!"
"Yes, and she wanted us to get there as soon as possible."
"Then why are we waiting? We should get going."
"I completely agree Spike." 
The two left for the pastry shop as quick as they could to meet their pink friend. They managed to arrive just in time to see Pinkie rushing trough the front door. Rarity and Spike followed her down to the basement.
The basement of Sugar Cube Corner was larger and more spacious. There were a few boxes of miscellaneous items in them, and some antiques that were coated in dust and cobwebs. These items of no importance were shoved to the corners in order to make way for what Pinkie was doing in the center of the room. There was a hole with a pile of dirt and concrete next to it, and the hole itself was big enough to hold multiple ponies. At the very bottom of the hole was the tip of a purple object. A ladder was also in the hole, and the pink party pony was at the bottom. Rarity and Spike stood at the bottom of the stairs just trying to think of why Pinkie was doing this. Soon, Pinkie climbed up the ladder and noticed the two.
Pinkie asked: "What took you two so long? You're  3.14 seconds late! You two need to put on hard hats and help me dig this out! Now hurry! The longer we take, the more of a chance of us failing to save Equestria!"
Rarity asked: "Pinkie, you want us to help you dig in your basement? Eww! All that discussing dirt!"
"I need you to help me because I need this as intact as possible, so your eye for detail will be super duper useful! And I need you, Spike; because, you are a very, very, very, very, very, productive worker! NOW HELP ME DIG!" Pinkie jumped into the hole and commenced digging. Spike then noticed that there were helmets, pickaxes, and shovels in front of them. Without questioning Pinkie's intentions, they put on their helmets and chose their desired tool. Rarity, didn't like the idea of manual labor so she quickly convinced Spike to do her work for her in exchange for a gift in the future. After that, Spike picked up both a shovel and pickaxe to start working in the hole with Pinkie. Rarity stood at the edge of the hole directing Spike on what and how he should dig. So there they dug into the ground for an unknown amount of time trying to uncover whatever the strange object was.