Upgrading
It had been a couple of days since the Battle Foals settled into the ruined castle, and they had made some good progress. With the bounty of sulfur that she had sent the others to gather, Quantum Tech managed to manufacture a large amount of gunpowder, and thus much more bullets for Kickback, who was very thankful. He was then a little less thankful when Quantum tried to nuzzle his neck.
Furthermore, Air Slash had finally finished making Fire Fight his pyranium gauntlets and armor. His old gauntlets were melted down for extra metal that Air Slash would use as an inner layer of reinforcement. As promised, the medallion given to him was built in the chest area of his armor. The armor was a little heavy, but Fire Fight was nevertheless thankful and very eager to try it all out.
Air Slash of course made some armor for Crazylocks and Turf War, and added some reinforcement to Spiral Galaxy’s armor, all of which matched their coats, and had their medallions in the chest areas as well. Kickback and Shadow Shroud said that they didn’t want any since their fighting styles don’t particularly compliment the need for armor, which Air Slash agreed to. Kickback had his medallion strapped to the crown of his hat by a tight and sturdy string that Shroud used to connect her kamas into nunchucks; she had a few spares, so it was no big deal. Shroud herself simply hid her medallion under her cloak for the risk of it shining light, and thus giving her away in the dark; she assured her comrades that she proudly bore their insignia.
Quantum suddenly called for everypony to join her and Air Slash in what was presumed to be an outdoor training field for the royal guards. “Everypony! If none of you are quite busy, I’d like for you to come here!”
They all complied, and came out. “What’s up, homegirl? Yo, where my hammer and shield went anyway? Y’all done wit ‘em?” Turf War asked.
“Hopefully, my friend. That remains to be seen.” Air Slash answered.
“HAMMER JAMMER WAS THE HERO THAT SAVED THE PORKY HAMPIRE!!!!” Crazylocks blurted.
Everypony either rolled their eyes, or facehooved. “Yes, darling….I’ve read many a tale of his heroics…” Quantum mumbled. She cleared her throat. “That aside, I’ve called you all here so that we might run a few…tests. I’m sure that you all remember our recent encounter with the crystal golem?”
“I try not to.” Spiral Galaxy answered. She was still a little embarrassed about her blunder that nearly got them all killed.
Quantum fixed her glasses. “Y-Yes...well anyway, I’m sure that you all recall the crystals we used to defeat it?”
Kickback tipped his hat. “Ah fondly remember Air Slash makin’ quick work o’ that varmint as soon as he got them things on his swords.”
“Exactly!” Quantum said. “Air Slash, if you would kindly draw your swords…”
Air Slash drew his blades, and the other foals could immediately see that there was something different about them. Carefully embedded in either of the blades’ hilts was one of the crystals that he had used to fell the titan. “Quantum Tech and I have been busy as you can see.”
“Indeed. Careful tests have allowed me to slightly alter the magically conductive nature of these particular specimens so that they can absorb magic through the blades as well as receive a charge directly. That, and I’ve managed to greatly reduce the rate at which they consume magic. Thus, they’ll be able to more efficiently hold a charge.” Quantum explained. “Observe”.
Air Slash held up one of his swords in a guarding stance, and Quantum Tech shot a quick burst of magic at it. The observing foals were astonished to witness the blade completely swallow the magic, and store it into the crystal. Air Slash then swung his sword towards a set target, and a sword beam fired from it, slicing the target into two. “In essence, my blades can now cut through and absorb magic.” Air Slash explained.
“M-M-Most impressive!!” Shadow Shroud said. She was thoroughly amazed at what Quantum was truly capable of.
“Thank you, darling. I guess you wouldn’t care for me to augment your weaponry in such a way?” Quantum inquired.
Shroud shook her head. “No thank you. I rely heavily on the arts taught to me.” She said.
“I didn’t think you would.” Quantum said. “Perhaps you’d reconsider showing me how-”
“No!” Shadow Shroud knew what she was going to ask, and answered immediately.
Quantum sighed. “Well, I tried…”
“Can I try out my gauntlets!?” Fire Fight asked.
Air Slash sheathed his sword, and nodded. “Of course, friend. That’s also why we’re out here.” He said. Quantum set up a couple more of the targets.
“Ok…” Fire Fight raised his hoof, and looked at his bright red pyranium gauntlet. Remembering Quantum’s explanation, he lit his horn, and ignited the gauntlet. He was startled when the gauntlet immediately burst into flames. “WHOA!” Heat didn’t bother him much at all, so he wasn’t hurt. Much to his astonishment, the metal was indeed remaining pristine despite being engulfed in flames. “Whoa….” He looked back and forth for a second between the target in front of him and his burning gauntlet, and smiled deviously. He leapt towards they target with a punch ready, and struck. The target was demolished as well as sent up in a burst of flames on impact. When Fire Fight looked at his gauntlet, it was still burning. He then used his magic to smother the fire out, and then tried igniting his armor. As expected, it lit up and continued to burn until Fire Fight put out the blaze. “Whoa!”
“Mah boy, you lookin’ hot!....Nah, fo’ real! Hehe!” Turf War commented.
Spiral rolled her eyes. “Pfft! Nice one, dude!” she sneered. “But, seriously! Talk about an upgrade!”
Fire Fight ran back to his friends with a big smile on his face thanks to his new toys. “Yeah, really! I’m gonna enjoy this! What else have you guys got?”
Air Slash flew towards a nearby column, and from behind it retrieved a large sack similar to the one that he carried the equipment that he had forged for them on the night that he joined them. He set it down, reached into it, and pulled out two small spiked balls. “Crazylocks, come here a moment.” He said.
“One a pancake, two a pancake, three a pancake, FOOOUURRRR…… Melons have feelings too, ya know!” Crazylocks chanted as she innocently pranced up to Air Slash.
Air Slash shook his head. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” He mumbled to himself. He then opened the spiked balls that he had, and closed them onto the ends of both of Crazylocks’ pigtails. “A little extra offensive power for your mane for when you’re not an earth pony, or even when you still are.” He explained.
Crazylocks eyed both of her new armaments simultaneously by focusing one eye on each of them. After a second or so, she fixed her gaze onto Air Slash. “BEEEELLLLCH!......That’s manganese for ‘thank you’.” She said.
Quantum Tech facehooved. “Crazylocks, manganese is a metal, not a language!”
“EXACTLY! METAL IS TRULY THE UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE!!” Crazylocks shouted.
“Ugh….well apparently, metal has no sense of dignity.” Quantum muttered.
Looks of concern came from the other foals. “Now are y’all sure ya wanna be givin’ her somethin’ like that?” Kickback inquired.
“I hardly think that she’s significantly more dangerous than she already has been thus far, Kickback.” Air Slash said.
“Well….I mean….I-I guess we just gotta keep an eye on her like always, huh?” Spiral said.
“Word.” Turf War affirmed. “Yo, what about my s***?”
Quantum glared at him. “You won’t be getting any of it back if you insist on using that foul language any further!” she scolded.
Turf War gulped. “Yo, my bad! My bad…”
“Yes, well that aside…” Air Slash reached into the sack, and pulled out Turf War’s armaments. “Quantum was really the one who made the improvements here.”
Turf War was handed his gear. “Fo’ real?” He inspected them carefully. “Uhh…..what y’all did? They look exactly the same.”
Quantum Tech walked up to him, and motioned for Fire Fight to come over. “Fire Fight, if you would?” He did so. “Turf War, put up your shield.”
“Uh…a’ight.” Turf War did as he was asked.
“Now Fire Fight, punch his shield.” Quantum said.
“Okay.” Fire Fight said. He reared back, and threw a good punch at Turf War’s shield. When he struck it, it almost immediately felt as though he had been blown back by his own punch, and he was knocked back while Turf War was completely unfazed. “Argh!” Fire Fight hit the ground with a slight thud. “Wh-What the!?”
“Homie, you good!?” Turf War called out. He then looked at his shield, and realized that something felt…..weird. “What just happen d’ho?”
Quantum fixed her glasses. “I had Air Slash embed another of the crystals we harvested into your shield. But before that, I enchanted this particular specimen to absorb shock, and reflect back into the direction that it came from. I gave it the same kind of absorption property with Air Slash’s sword, but with shock and otherwise physical trauma rather than magic, so you won’t necessarily have to recharge it. However, it can only reflect about 60-70% of the shock absorbed. The rest is up to you to sustain.”
Turf War looked his shield in awe. Quantum had more than outdone herself with this. He couldn’t wait to see what she must have done with his hammer. “Yo! Dat’s dope! Y’all do somethin’ wit dis dude?” he asked as he held out his hammer-axe.
Quantum Tech devilishly giggled. “Slam it onto the ground, and see for yourself!” As soon as Turf War eagerly reared his hammer up, she suddenly realized that….that might not have been a good idea. “WAIT! NO, DON’T!”
But it was too late. Turf War’s hammer hit the ground with a resounding thunder….literally. The foals freaked out as they felt a little earthquake shake the entire castle. “WH-WHOA! WH-WHOOOAAAA, S******!!!” Turf War screamed. Some loose pieces of the castle walls and columns broke off, and crumbled to the ground. The small tremor lasted for a few seconds before dissipating as quickly as it started.
The foals regained their composure. “WHAT DA F***, QUANTUM!?....Uh, sorry I cursed again!” Turf War exclaimed.
“No, no. I’ll excuse that one. I should have been more discreet.” Quantum said. She cleared her throat. “As you’ve no doubt guessed, I’ve augmented your hammer to generate relatively small bursts of seismic activity. There’s yet another one of the crystals within its bell with the same properties as the one in your shield, but the difference of course is that it absorbs shock from being slammed into physical matter, and projects it as a wave throughout whatever it strikes. However, I added a layer of material just underneath the face of the hammer that has the same properties as my hornbands, so it’ll amplify the output of your hammer’s shock reflection. It did not do so with your shield simply because its larger surface area would leave much more potential for an….unnecessarily large wave to be projected outward, and…..cause unnecessary damage.” She explained.
“Dat’s prolly a good idea.” Turf War said. He sheathed his armaments. “But, yo! I’m a wreck junk wit all dis! Somethin’ gonna come up to yo’ boy talkin’ ‘bout ‘You ‘bout to be flatter than a pancake, son’, and I be like ‘Hehe. Sir PLEASE! Earthquake out here! POW!’, and d’hey be like ‘Oh, S***!’, and then-”
“TURF WAR!” Quantum Tech interjected.
Turf War suddenly calmed himself, and gulped. “Sorry…”
Quantum sighed. “At least you’re trying….”
“I’m guessing that I won’t be getting any of those crystals…” Spiral inquired.
“Neither you nor Fire Fight. I hope I don’t have to explain why….” Quantum said.
Spiral shrugged. “Yeah. These hornbands are pretty much good enough” she said. “Hey, did you make anything for yourself?”
Quantum was caught a little off guard by that question. “Umm….like what?”
Spiral shrugged. “I-I don’t know…..something. I’d hate for you to be left out.”
“There’s not a whole lot she can do in terms of combat, but her intellect has saved our lives before. That much is enough, I’d think.” Shadow Shroud said.
“Yeah, but she’s completely vulnerable! If we can’t get to her in time before something else does….” Spiral retorted.
“I-I’m not completely vulnerable!” Quantum said. However, she knew that Spiral was right. Being cooped up in her lab doing experiments or reading a book, she seldom if ever took the time to worry about her physical fitness. She’d be dead meat in an emergency…..in more ways than one worst case scenario.
“Now don’t y’all start talkin’ like that!” Kickback said. They all looked at him. “Ms. Quantum Tech might not be a born fighter, but she’s proven herself b’fore like Ms. Shadow Shroud said. Ah’m sure she could find a way to help somehow in any situation. We’ve put this much faith in her already with our gear, haven’t we?”
“Y-Yeah…..Yeah, you’re right, Kickback. I think we’re all just worried that she’d hold us back. I mean….I-I’m not saying that she totally will, but…..” Fire Fight said. He indeed had faith in his brainy companion, but he wondered how much faith he could or even should realistically put into her.
Quantum chuckled victoriously, and fixed her glasses. “Worry not, my friends! I might have an idea or two of how I might be of more assistance….”
“Don’t feel like we’re trying to pressure you into anything, Quantum. P-Perhaps we shouldn’t have said anything altogether.” Shroud said.
Quantum shook her head. “No, no, no. It’s quite fine. It might take me a while, but….I’ll see what I can do.” She pranced up to Kickback, who immediately backed up, knowing what he was about to receive. “Don’t you run away from me, you handsome doll of a gentlecolt!” she squealed.
Kickback was trying to keep his cool. “M-Ms. Quantum Tech, Ah know what yer gonna say, and yer welcome! Bye!” He ran off.
Quantum started giggling as she gave chase. “Kickbaaaack! Come heeeeere!”
“Curse mah manners!” Kickback shouted.
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Wow, they have been busy! Talk about a lot of new stuff in one chapter! Hmm...wonder what Quantum's weapon will be? I'm guessing she'll make herself one...bet it'll be gun related to flirt with Kickback.
Also, is Quantum supposed to be their nurse as well or will we get somepony like that on this journey?
Also, could only find one error:
Unnecessary 'of' here. Though...the end of sentence doesn't feel complete. Maybe its just me.
7915551 Damnit! I proofread this before I posted this, and one little guy slipped by me! <sigh> Thanks man!
I won't spoil anything!
7915561 Give me a minute, I'll find some other error...
Found some more:
'They're' should be their.
Missing a 'the' after to.
Not an error. Sentence isn't spaced properly due to the site. Only slightly tabbed compared to the other sentences.
7915583 <sigh> I'm getting there. Thanks!
7915616 No prob. Just don't ask me to point out all the errors from previous chapters. That'll take a while...
Just kidding. Just ask and I'll help ya. I'll just have to do it tomorrow at the earliest if you want me to, I'm hopping off. Good chapter, can't wait for the next one!
7915622 You're a real saint! That's okay though. I go back to edit them myself every once in a while. Can't wait to bring out the rest!
It's literally just like when you finally can upgrade old stuff in a game when you get new stuff that you'd never use.
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Inferno Gauntlets (Weapon)
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Mirror Shield (Armor)
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Seismic Hammer (Weapon)
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Lifestream Blades (Weapon)
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Mane Mace (Weapon)
EQUIPMENT UNLOCKED: Team Medallion x6 (Special 1)
7916200 Actually, all eight of them have their own medallion.
7916200 ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED: More bang for your buck
Equipped the new weapons and armor Quantum Tech gives you.
God it took awhile to read all these chapters great story so far
7918000 Sorry there are so many! It's gonna be a long one, but I promise it'll be a good one.
Do you have any criticisms of it so far? Something you think I could do better?
Got a question for ya. Since we found out Fire Fight's situation with his ******bag dad, does Twilight and the others know about his awful dad? You know, did Fire Fight's mom tell them about it or did you mention this earlier somewhere?
7918165 I haven't explicitly mentioned that she has, no. Not yet at least.
7918234 Oh okay. I was just wondering since it seemed logical that Twilight and the others would ask where dear old dad is since the mom has been with them in multiple places now.
7918006 is Twilight and them going to find Gene splice's corpse
7918672 Eventually, but I won't spoil when
Wait...how big of quakes does Turf's hammer do? Shouldn't others outside of the castle felt a quake suddenly happen?
7919457 It depends on how hard he hits the ground with it. If he lightly taps the ground, it'd basically be an elephant taking a step. But slamming it harder would be T-Rex footstep that resounded, and that's when the crystal in his hammer isn't even magically charged.
Otherwise, it'd peter out within a good few hundred feet.
7919488 Oh...nevermind then. Twilight and the others are never gonna find them, are they?
7919528 No spoilers!
Now way this isn't a reference for the Hampire song about a pork vampire called the Hampire lol.