//------------------------------// // Chapter 10: Strange Tech // Story: The Warden: Part 2, The Crusader and The Warden // by FortressLegacy //------------------------------// It was a rather uneventful morning for Apple Bloom and the Warden. After waking up from an uneasy but uninterrupted sleep at daybreak, they ate a quick breakfast, forded the river, and continued towards the southeast.  As the morning mist lifted, Apple Bloom could make out the mountains far behind them, as well as the ones ahead. In fact, it seemed as if they were in the middle between the two sections of the Unicorn Range. The terrain had become a lot easier to traverse as well, the rocks and trees having become far less frequent and flat ground began to become common. Every so often, they would exit the forest and enter vast, open meadows which provided a refreshing change of scenery. Instead of there being trees and dead leaves as far as the eye could see, there was now tall, lush grass and even a few stubborn wildflowers which refused to succumb to the autumn chill. They both trekked along, mostly silent besides the occasional brief exchange of words or short conversation between the filly and the stallion. This didn't really bother Apple Bloom very much, for she had begun to get used to biding her time observing the beautiful Equestrian countryside from her vantage point on the Warden's back.  All the while, she was lost in her thoughts, which also helped to pass the time. The events of the previous night occupied her mind especially. Of how she had been saved a second time from a beast by the Warden, and how he scared the manticore away. The more she dwelled upon it, the more she could not help but feel a mixture of awe and security to be in the presence of such a stallion. Of course, if it weren't for his weapons, they would probably both be dead. This gave rise to a question which had been nagging her since she was in his lab. How in Equestria did he have such tech? Sure, she had seen some incredible machines back in Ponyville. The Flim Flam Brothers' Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000 came to mind. But that was powered by magic, as was a great many other machines made by ponies. However, as far as she could make out, there was no evidence of magic in the Warden's various machines. Not even the little drone seemed to be powered by magic. As the hours passed, her curiosity grew and grew. Eventually, during the late morning, she finally could not resist the urge. "Mister Warden?" "Hm?" "How do all your machines work? How many do ya have?" The Warden remained silent for a few seconds, as if he were hesitant to answer. Then, he spoke. "I can tell you, but I need you to promise to keep it a secret." "Why?" Asked Apple Bloom, confused. "Because the last thing I need is for my enemies to find out my secrets." He was referring to the sisters as his enemies again, Apple Bloom knew that much. While she still felt some irritation at this, she conceded. "Ah promise." He looked back, his expression showing a small degree of appreciation as he began. "What machine do you want to learn about first?" Apple Bloom paused, thinking about which one she wanted to ask about. After a brief period of deliberation, she replied. "Your armor suit." He smirked a little. "I knew you were going to pick that." He said. "Prepare yourself for a lot of technical description." Apple Bloom shuffled around a bit to get comfortable, then looked attentively at him with wide eyes. Finally, she was going to find out about the technical marvel that was his armor. "My armor is the result of several decades of research and development." He began. "It is truly a massive feat of engineering. Of course, your sister described the nature of it to you?" Apple Bloom nodded. She still remembered Applejack's vivid description of the fight at Canterlot. "She said that it could absorb an' use magic against their users, along with the ability to fly, right?" He nodded in return. "Correct. Do you know how it has these sort of abilities?" Apple Bloom shook her head. "That's because it's made of a very special type of metal." The Warden explained. "It has very unique properties which, when exploited, enable its users to do things previously thought to be impossible." "What's it made of?" "It is called capacium, and it forms the basis for all of my tech. No other metal is quite like it. This is because it has the ability to absorb and store cosmic energy." "Cosmic what now?" Apple Bloom asked, unintentionally coming across as skeptical. "Cosmic energy." The Warden reaffirmed. "I know it sounds like a bunch of nonsense, but trust me when I say that it is very real. In fact, it is because of this cosmic energy that magic even exists in the first place!" This, along with his explanation on his family's distant past, was all new to Apple Bloom. Of course, she didn't know a whole lot about magic to begin with, but she knew well enough that the exact origin of magic was a topic of hot debate between Equestria's greatest scholars. The Warden resumed, and Apple Bloom promptly paid attention. "Equus' core is made primarily of molten capacium, believe it or not. Billions of years ago, our world was nothing more than a giant blob of this metal. Due to its properties, it absorbed a massive amount of cosmic energy left behind by the creation of our universe. Of course, the planet eventually took on the form that we know of now, but the core still remained chock full of this energy. Over time, certain objects and even certain creatures evolved to harness this cosmic energy, thus giving rise to magic!" Apple Bloom nodded slowly, finding that this explanation took some faith to believe, but also seemed to make some sense. "Ah know that there's a theory goin' round that magic comes from our world. Ah guess that would explain it." "Indeed it does," the Warden agreed, "but capacium is a metal that is currently unknown by most ponies since the collapse of the Equestrian Empire. It was actually known to exist back in that time, but like a great many other things, Discord's reign caused it to be forgott-" He suddenly froze in his tracks, and his ears perked up. Immediately, he and Apple Bloom went on the alert. But after a few seconds, he shook his head. "What is it?" Apple Bloom asked, wondering what in Equestria had prompted him to do so. "I thought I heard something." He said as he began to walk again, gesturing to his torn ear. "I guess my ear and a half are playing tricks on me. Anyway, capacium was forgotten because of Discord. That is, until my grandfather rediscovered it and found out about its properties." "Like absorbing magic?" "Yes, although it could do several other things." The Warden explained. "You see, when it's mined and refined from ore, it's still full of that cosmic energy; or magic, depending on which term you want to use here. Depending on how much metal you have, it has a limit on how much energy it can store. As such, the pure, cosmic energy has to be drained in order to maximize the amount of energy it can take in. That is how my grandfather discovered that it makes an excellent energy source." "How does it do that?" "He discovered that if the metal is melted down, it radiates pure, concentrated energy. He found a way to harness this energy and turn it into a way to power his equipment. The process itself is actually quite dangerous, but well worth it if executed properly in a capacium reactor. As an added benefit, once the metal has been drained of its cosmic energy, it becomes depleted capacium." "Depleted capacium, huh?" "Yes. My armor is made from this metal, and since it is made of depleted capacium, it can absorb any kind of magic. For example, if an alicorn were to try and blast me while I was wearing the armor, the capacium would simply absorb it, protecting me from harm." Apple Bloom thought that this was an oddly specific example to use, but her curiosity prevented her from dwelling on it for too long. Besides, another question was arising. "But if it can absorb the magic, how can ya use it? Mah sister told me that you were able to use the magic that was used against you." "She is correct." The Warden replied. "The answer lies within a miniaturized capacium reactor in the armor. It has a tiny amount of molten capacium inside, and the magic that the armor absorbs is channeled to it once it is time to use it. Using a combination of my own willpower and focus along with some computerized assistance, the reactor can release the magic in the form of spells." Apple Bloom recalled his remark from the previous afternoon about the difficulty of teleportation spells. This would provide an explanation as to how he even understood how spells worked as an earth pony. Of course, the fact that he, an earth pony, was even capable of using magic was remarkable in of itself. Her train of thought was interrupted once again as the Warden promptly froze and went alert once again. This time he turned his head off to the side, staring off into a distant treeline. Apple Bloom held her breath, doing the same. She hadn't heard anything outside of the rustling grass or the rushing breeze for the past few minutes. For a few moments, they both remained where they were, and Apple Bloom felt a creeping sense of unease. "What is it?" She whispered. "I could have sworn…" The Warden murmured, before exhaling and shaking his head. "Forget it. My mind is fooling with me. I don't get out of the lab much…" Apple Bloom silently nodded, still feeling slightly uneasy. It almost felt as if they were being watched. Almost, however. "Anyway…" The Warden continued, his voice a little more subdued and his head slowly swiveling from side to side as he spoke. "My armor also makes use of cosmic energy to power engines within a set of wings. It allows me to harness the power of flight and travel at fast speeds. Not as fast as some pegasi, but still faster than most. Does that all suffice as an explanation of my armor?" Apple Bloom paused, then asked another question, not quite satisfied. "Why didn't you use it to fly during that fight with the spider?" He remained silent for a moment, then spoke. "Princess Twilight and her friends trashed my wings, that's why. That's also why we're walking rather than flying right now." Sensing that his tone had grown a bit sour, Apple Bloom elected to change the subject. "Is there anythin' else that capacium can do?" The Warden nodded, any irritation disappearing. "Yes, and this is perhaps the most unbelievable part about this metal." He remarked, pausing to take a breath. "The cosmic energy that raw capacium posesses can be used to warp time and space." "Do what now?" Apple Bloom asked, her eyes growing wide. That sounded like something out of a science fiction comic book! "It can bend time and space any way you want, in theory." He said. "My grandfather, with the help of ARTIS, created a machine that was capable of refining cosmic energy and projecting it in such a way that travel beyond our own universe was possible." While this did sound impressive, Apple Bloom would have found this unbelievable a year ago. Up until she had heard about Princess Twilight's adventure in another world that could only be accessed through a magical mirror, she didn't think such things were possible. Well, outside of chaos magic, that is. Meanwhile, the Warden continued. "It was then that my grandfather realized something. You see, during the peacetime following the Changeling War, he didn't have a lot to do, and he went looking for a new way to defend Equestria. By realizing capacium's full potential, he programmed the machine to prevent all interdimensional travel to and from our world, thereby defending Equestria from threats unknown. Of course, pre-existing methods of travel remained open, but new portals would be prevented from being made. He dubbed this machine the Gatekeeper." Apple Bloom nodded once more, sensing a few more questions. Specifically, about ARTIS. "Did your grandfather create ARTIS too?" The Warden shook his head. "Well, he found ARTIS. Not far from where my lab is, in fact." "All the way out there?" Apple Bloom asked. "How?" "He just… Happened across it." He replied with some hesitation. Apple Bloom couldn't quite say for sure, but it seemed as if he took a bit too long to make that answer. "It was during his wanderings that he happened across something strange:" The Warden continued. "A mechanical being, left in the middle of the Unicorn Range, deactivated and greatly deteriorated. It was totally alien to Hightower, unlike anything which he had ever seen." "Was that ARTIS?" "It was what would become ARTIS, yes. My grandfather accidentally reactivated him, and the machine immediately swore that he was its master. To this day, I don't know exactly where the machine came from or who its master was to begin with, but neither were obviously from Equus." Apple Bloom nodded thoughtfully. "That's mighty strange." "It is." The Warden affirmed. "But regardless of where it came from, it helped my grandfather build the lab that you saw, along with most of the equipment within. The machine revealed advanced technologies to him that were thousands of years ahead of his own time, including capacium tech. My grandfather eventually used the machine's operating system as a template for ARTIS, thus creating the first AI in Equestria's history." The Warden went quiet for a moment, then shook his head, adding: "It was an incredible stroke of fate. In spite of his exile, he still found a way to protect Equestria." This caused Apple Bloom to tilt her head. "Exile? Hightower was exiled? Why?" The Warden tensed up a bit, groaning quietly as if he had just realized that he had said something that he didn't want to say out loud. "Uh… I meant to say-" AAAWOOOOOOO! A fur-raising howl caused Apple Bloom's heart to leap and twist in fear as the Warden immediately lowered his stance and looked in the direction of the noise. Apple Bloom followed his gaze, and saw that it was fixed on the distant treeline once again. This time however, she could see large things moving around within the forest. Then, two hulking masses of wood and leaves crawled out of the trees, and both ponies stared in muted fear at the creatures. Timber wolves.