//------------------------------// // Experiment // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Quantum Tech waited with silent impatience as Skadi typed away on a keyboard, presumably readying one of the ‘experiments’ she alluded to. Knowing that it must have been Shadow Shroud hiding in the dark corners, she glanced back and forth between the heinous hen and the shadow where she saw her friend’s eyes for a moment before she saw them gleaming again. A quick thermal scan as well as a prompt from her glasses’ facial recognition confirmed that it was indeed Shroud. Quantum raised her eyebrows and mouthed ‘hey!’ at her, acknowledging that she noticed her. She noticed that the night-clad filly seemed to be motioning some kind of gesture, but she wasn’t sure what. Looking back at Skadi to make sure she wasn’t looking, Quantum squinted to see that Shroud was pointing to one of the energy crystals being held in a container beside the massive main computers. She wasn’t quite sure what her friend was trying to say. “Something the matter, little one?” Quantum whipped around when she heard Skadi’s voice right behind, and sure enough, there she was standing right over her. “Huh!?” With her mind moving faster due to being startled, Quantum realized what Shroud must have been trying to telegraph to her. “Oh! N-Not at all. I just don’t recall you explaining anything about those crystals. Are they the energy source of this facility?” Skadi looked over at the crystal. “In…a manner of speaking. Their function is more akin to a battery than a generator, although a very…. How to put this….. The simplest I could put it is that they act as regulators that prevent overflows of energy while storing it at the same time for later consumption. The mechs absorb it like nectar to sustain themselves.” “I see…” Quantum said. “And just what is the energy source it regulates?” “That’s on a need-to-know basis until I can trust that you won’t mutiny against me.” Skadi said. “Y-Yes, of course…” Quantum said. She looked at the crystal and scanned it for data unbeknownst to Skadi as she went back to another computer. Her captor seemed to be telling the truth as to the nature of the crystals, but she couldn’t quite discern the energy it was storing. Her glasses couldn’t decide whether it was geothermal or solar energy, which baffled her. Just what was this place? However, she was able to analyze its structural integrity, and she made an important discovery. “Shadow Shroud, it’s brittle.” She silently mouthed. Her shadow-clad friend nodded. Quantum found that the sheer flow of energy made the crystals rather fragile, and she could only guess that she also overheard Skadi’s explanation of what they were and their functions. Even if she couldn’t see her, Quantum could feel Shroud’s presence disappear from the vicinity. “It seems we’re ready.” Skadi said. Quantum gulped. “F-For what?” “For the first experiment, of course. Take a look.” Skadi eyed towards the monitor overlooking the arena. Quantum Tech looked at the monitor and gasped when she saw Zebota and Shrapnel being ushered into the arena by guards. They released them from their cages and gave Zebota his equipment back, but the two wisely didn’t fight back, knowing that trying to get away without a plan and with so much security around them would be suicide. “What’s going on?” Skadi just chuckled. A moment later, a mech strutted into the arena opposite of Zebota and Shrapnel’s position. However, it was not the familiar lion model they’d encountered before; it more ursine, resembling a bear and it was only a little bigger than Shrapnel. Zebota looked at it with confusion while Shrapnel viciously snarled at it. “Tell me, dear. How does a beast made of wood so easily tear into a being comprised of superior metal?” Skadi asked. “Erm…” Quantum pondered for an answer. It seemed like such a simple question, but her friendship with Zebota often overrode her curiosity about his powers. Not to mention that Shrapnel seemed a little tougher than he probably should be, even for a timberwolf like him. “N-Nature power?” she stammered. Skadi sighed disapprovingly. “That’s all? Such a simple answer from such a sophisticated mind? Beyond disappointing.” She said. “I concede that I know nothing about the nature of his…well, nature magic, but you have surely seen it firsthand on numerous occasions. Don’t tell me you’ve denied your own curiosity.” “I-I haven’t. It’s just…. It’s such a remote form of magic that I’m not sure how I would go about studying it.” Quantum said. “Holy Siegfried…” Skadi muttered. “Well, needless to say, I think you’ll get sufficient data from this experiment. Hehehehe…” Quantum Tech couldn’t help but worry about her friend considering the situation he and Shrapnel had been put in. Given what was being shown on the monitor, she could only guess what was about to happen… In The Arena… Zebota and Shrapnel faced their ursine adversary, knowing the ensuing scrap that would ensue. Shrapnel ferociously growled at it while Zebota stared it down in subdued rage. Unlike most creatures which he would fight with honor, he had no issue unleashing his wrath on an abomination such as this. Despite not having access to his elemental magic, he didn’t fear his foe as he readied his boomerang. “Those who believe themselves to be invincible are the most vulnerable. This should take little effort.” Zebota said. “” “” Shrapnel and the mecha bear roared and howled over each other before charging at one another. They collided into one another with almost cataclysmic force, biting into each other’s jaws as they violently wrestled. Zebota threw his boomerang when he saw an opportunity just as Shrapnel and the mecha bear jumped away from each other, and his boomerang managed to strike one of its eyes and crack the lens. It still functioned, but the bear was obviously going to have some vision troubles. It flinched when it realized the damage it had sustained, giving Shrapnel an opening to attack. The wooden titan launched himself at the mech in such a way that he was right under its chin, and he clamped his jaws onto its neck as he thrust himself upward, forcing the bear off of its forelegs. He tried to tear the bear’s head off, but ended up throwing it to the side and staggering from his opponent’s weight. Against his better judgment, Zebota charged into the fray wielding his tomahawk, but not before he threw his boomerang once more. It cut a cord under the bear’s arm as it was lifted it to strike Shrapnel. The mech managed to get a clean hit on Shrapnel as it was unbothered by one of its components being destroyed. Steam spewed out like a constant geyser, and yet it still managed to keep its strength. “What!?” Zebota thought to himself as he leapt forward to strike into its armor, but it jumped back and blasted him with a concentrated sound wave, blowing him back. “AAH!!” Shrapnel had recovered from his blow when he saw his master be blown back and pounced when the bear was distracted and rammed into it, knocking it onto its side and exposing its underbelly. Shrapnel wasted no time tearing into it with his jaws, and Zebota, who got back on his hooves very quickly joined him and chopped into the softer wires and cords with his tomahawk. The bear started to feel the effects of the first cut cord set in; it lost movement in its right arm as it tried to get up, and that section of its body started overheating. It started roaring in pain as it desperately tried to pick itself up with Zebota and Shrapnel tearing into it. But it couldn’t. Its programming told it to take drastic measures, and it initiated a self-destruct sequence. Its eyes rhythmically flashed a few times before alarms starting sounding from around its body, prompting the mystic duo to fall back. Shrapnel stood between the mech and his master just as it exploded, shielding Zebota from the blast. Very little debris actually struck him, but what did hit him he endured easily. After the explosion subsided, Shrapnel collapsed from exhaustion. “Shrapnel!!” Zebota exclaimed. He checked on his beast; there were some nasty gashes and bruises here and there, but he knew such injuries meant little to Shrapnel’s durable body, even if it was wooden. “My friend…. I am sorry. I did so little, and you paid dearly.” Shrapnel let out a whimper. “” “Do not say such things, my friend.” Zebota said. “We are caught in a trap, and I can do little to protect you or our friends at this time. You rely on me to make important decisions, but….I do not have the power to carry out any decisions I may make.” “” Shrapnel grunted. Zebota sighed. “Even if we do….these unliving, soulless beasts are…..I loathe to say this, but they are formidable beings, and Nature is not here for us.” Shrapnel growled. “” Back in Skadi’s Control Room… Quantum Tech was in complete shock as to what she just witnessed. She had faith that Zebota and Shrapnel could fell their foe, but to see them be forced to fight as mere guinea pigs made her feel sick. “Well?” Skadi said. Quantum looked at her to see her smug grin awaiting a response. “How’s that for data gathering?” Quantum Tech looked at the computer she was assigned to. The data she received was ambiguous, but it seemed to be recording of the combatants’ battle parameters. There wasn’t a whole lot since it didn’t last very long, but what she did get were readings of how Zebota’s focus moved in such a way that it allowed him to make the precise throws of his boomerang that he did, Shrapnel’s stamina, the trauma they’d received when they were attacked by the bear, and even what appeared to be the magic within Shrapnel that gave him sentience. It was bare bones stuff compared to what it all could have been, but it was still amazing nonetheless. However….. Quantum Tech, in all the excitement she felt from the scientific knowledge before her, felt a little….uneasy. “D-Don’t you think this a tad extreme, Skadi?” Skadi’s grin dropped into an angry frown. She marched over to Quantum and stood right over her threateningly. “Extreme actions yield extreme results, little filly. How are we going to learn anything, if we don’t put aside the morals holding us back for even but a moment? Would your Princess Luna still be in her sister’s shadow if she never became the Nightmare Moon? I’d imagine Princess Celestia had a lot to think about after being forced to exile her own flesh and blood. If you ask me, Nightmare Moon was a grand personal accomplishment of the good princess of the moon.” Quantum mustered all the courage she could to not curl up into a ball despite how scared she was. “I-I suppose so, but what do they have to do with any of this?” “It was just an example, dear, but a relevant one if I do say so myself, After all, King Grover will have a lot to think about once my army and I invade Griffonstone, now won’t he?” Skadi hissed. Internally, Quantum had never been so furious in all her life. If she was willing to endanger lives just to get her point across, what would she do to get what she wanted? She wanted nothing more than to take control of Skadi’s mechs and throw them all her way, but she couldn’t bring herself to let that hate let loose. She had to remain strong for her friends and not give in to her emotions, even if it meant putting their lives at risk. “If you insist…” she muttered. Skadi eased up and lightly chuckled. “I knew you’d see reason eventually.” She sneered. “Now then, on to the next.” Back in the Armory Shadow Shroud quietly snuck back through the broken door that she had exited through before, and she found Dark Veil calmly waiting for her by the furnace-like construct where the python had fed from. Armed with the knowledge she had ‘stolen’ from Skadi, she quietly approached him. “Have a nice tour?” Dark Veil asked. “It was lovely.” Shadow Shroud said. “I acquired some intel that might serve useful. Sorry I didn’t send a postcard, hehe. Did you behave while I was gone?” Dark Veil sighed and rolled his eyes. “Nothing happened except for a couple more of those robo lions coming in for a snack.” “Speaking of snacks, that’s where my intel comes in.” Shroud said. She explained to Dark Veil how she learned about the battery like nature of the crystals and how they were structurally unstable from the vast energy flow passing through them. “If we crack this one, we might be able to trick the python into overeating, thus giving us an opportunity to exterminate the pest.” “I wouldn’t be shocked if this thing was rigged to an alarm, so doing now would be stupid. And even if it wasn’t,the python will just see that something is wrong with its feeding trough and call for security.” Dark Veil said. “Then we’ll have to surprise it while it’s feeding.” Shroud said. Dark Veil looked around the feeding machine and pondered how they would go about doing that. “Hmm….” He looked around the hangar as well and all the optimal places he and Shroud could hide and prepare some kind of strike. “How fragile is this thing supposed to be exactly?” he asked. “Quantum Tech said it was brittle, so I can only imagine that means it’ll break easily. Why?” Shroud answered. She then looked around as he colleague did and got wind of his though process. “Oh… You clever son of a gun.”