A few months had passed since Arel submitted his project, he had been pulling odd jobs fixing simple steam engines and minor magi-tech devices to help out at home. Magi-tech was the name given to the technology created by mixing, just as the name suggested, magic and technology. And the biggest corporation working on such devices was Harmony-Tech Industries, which had two distinct branches.

The military branch was connected to the royal guard and received the most funding, the reason for that being the fact that most of the bigger noble families had some of their members in the guard. Therefore if they invested in gear to help them, the odds of survival for those members would increase. An additional motive was the fact that since the royal guards kept crimes in check, it stands to reason that with better gear they got to be more effective. Meaning that the nobles could claim that they were investing in the security of the community.

The civilian branch, however, was responsible for developing devices for helping in everyday tasks. Automated typing machines, were the most advanced example, using a microphone it would turn spoken words into written text. Due to the problem with the circuits breaking down too quickly, most of their projects were stuck on developing phase. And the lack of investments made the researches come to a hold.

Another distinctive detail about the branches was the fact that the military never let their projects see the light of day. While the civilian branch was always advertising their advancements. Arel came to despise the military branch after Philip Astro, the newly named head of research for that segment, stole his project for the modulator.

Arel was had just stopped working on his designs for fixing for the new power cell's fluctuation problems after extended use when he heard somepony knocking on his door.

"Come in!" The door opened and then he felt a hand running through his mane.

"Son, I think you might want to come down for a moment." Arel turned his chair around to see his mother with a worried look on her face.

"Did something happen? You're back early." Arel asked standing up and looking behind his mother.

"I don't know. She won't tell me."

"She?" Arel asked, his mom just nodded.

Arel raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, then he walked past her and went downstairs. Inside their dining room, casually sitting on a chair was Princess Celestia. She had a baby blue dress that turned white the closer it got to her hooves, around her neck the golden color with a purple gem she always had on, and her crown. The princess hadn't changed a bit since the last time he saw her. Just as Arel had stepped into the room, one of the planks creaked.

"Good evening, Mr. Areneo," Celestia said turning her head to face him. "It's been...what? Three years?"

"Y-yes. Um...to what do I owe the honor?"

"So formal, I heard that today was your birthday. Therefore I came here to give you a gift personally. Twenty years old, correct?" Arel nodded. "You're very young. But nevertheless, I am glad to inform that your project was accepted to my research center. And that I would like that you begin working on it as soon as possible."

"You did what?!" Arel heard from behind him. "You submitted a project to the Princess' research center?!" His mother was practically hanging from the stair's handrail.

"Uh, yeah?" Arel replied while looking over his shoulder.

"And he passed?"

"That is correct Mrs. Areneo. In fact, I have a few things to discuss with him regarding his project. His eyes and ears only."

"Oh! B-But of course! I-I'll just leave you two to it!" She said before running over to Arel so that she could give him a hug. "I'm so proud of you!" She said while squeezing him, then she ran back upstairs.

Now Arel was alone with the princess, again. Arel walked over to the opposite side of the table and sat down, then the princess lit up her horn and a pile of files appeared before him. Names with pictures of ponies, schematics for a lab, details on funding. All the details for Arel's research were handled, all it was missing was him.

"You covered everything? Why?" Arel asked while his twitch started to act up again.

"Your suggestion three years ago made our scientists start to experiment on different materials for the modulator for our own model for the power cell. Then professor Astro left the institution with a completely new model for a modulator out of the blue, a model that coincidentally had a complete and advanced concept of your suggestion. He stole your idea, didn't he?"

Arel bit his lip and clenched his fist, the princess looked at him without her smile. She was frowning and her eyes were throwing daggers at Arel, that simply stood there silent.

"You raised your voice against me. But you didn't fight for your research? You simply gave it up? Brave enough to shout at a mare, but not enough to raise your voice against a stallion?"

"He backed me into a corner. He got rid of the two manuscripts with my handwriting, made copies with his handwriting, and all we did during the research for my project was done under his name. Now I got no evidence to prove what he did, not even witnesses. The bastard even sent me bits to make me quiet," Arel answered with a low voice, his nails dug through his skin.

"So, you came up with this project because you were out of options. And one of the teachers of my academy did this to one of our students. That Professor was brilliant when it came to working on already started projects, there was no way that he would have developed that modulator entirely on his own as he claims."

Arel stared at the princess for a few seconds. 'Is she...taking my word for it? Was she suspicious of him before this? And if that's the case...'

"Princess, did you...did you do all this as an apology?" Arel asked with a hint of hesitation in his voice.

"My school was supposed to help minds grow and let their ideas help our world. Not to steal from them. And doing so while hiding the evidence that could convict him, I wish there was something I could do. But this is the best I got."

Arel tilted his head and leaned back on his chair, the princess was actually trying to apologize to him. 'She isn't the one to blame...it was all my fault for not suspecting Astro.'

"Will you accept these as an apology?"

"An apology for what?" Arel asked reaching for the files. "As far as I know, I dug my own grave for not suspecting him or trying to have more backups in case things went south. This is just you being kind to one of your students. For which I'm grateful," Arel continued while looking through the dossiers.

Looking up, he saw Princess Celestia with an expression of relief. Arel smiled at that and went back to the dossier, apparently, she had handpicked those candidates based on the specs Arel had the committee sent her. Five ponies, three mares and two stallions. All specialists for the work he was going to be doing. Engineer, chemistry specialist, magical physics, recently graduated magi-tech engineers. He had an all-star team at the tip of his fingers.

To top it all off, she had searched all of the ponies' histories. Apparently, she hired somepony to gather all their connections and search for anything that could compromise their integrity. But more importantly, she checked their connections with Harmony-Tech industries. No ties, nothing close to it. The stage was set, all Arel needed was the 'go' order and he would start his work.

"So, when can you begin?" Arel looked up when he heard Celestia's voice. She was resting her head on her hand as she waited for her answer. "The ponies for your project are all independent researchers that agreed to help you and are eager to begin. Golden Hashbrown, magic specialist, you need ancient magic and melding spells? That's your stallion. Blitzer Lowpop and Soft Shell, the first is a female earth pony, the second one is a female pegasus. They are both stars when it comes to tunning and programming magi-tech devices."

"There is also, Anbern Alboh, male unicorn, his specialty is modifying spells structures to make new effects. And Nimver Dew, female pegasus, you need to work out numbers? That's your sentient calculator. Like I said, they are all eager to work with your little idea, when can you begin?"

"As soon as you hand me the keys to my kingdom," Arel replied smiling back at her. "My reign will begin."

(later that night, Canterlot castle)

"Coming!" Celestia said while she finished tying up her robes. At that hour of the night, she knew that it could be only one pony.

"Did you seriously hire that earth pony student?!" That was the first thing she heard upon opening the door.

"Yes, Twilight. I did hire him," Celestia said making way for her student to come in. "Why do you ask? Do you have something against him?"

"Against him? NO! I want to know why didn't you let me join his team!" Twilight blurted out before covering her mouth. "Sorry, the thing is...that stallion is somewhat famous in the academy! His grades are amazing. He attended classes that didn't belong to his curriculum and performed greatly on them. I think he knows more about magic than me! I'm sure there is a lot I could learn from working with him!"

"Twilight, I am aware of how talented you are. But you need to go through your studies first," Celestia said petting Twilight's mane. "I can't have you there, yet. Besides, he is the one who decides who stays there working and who doesn't."

Celestia watched her student's ear drop as she looked to the ground, then she looked up with a pouty face. Then Twilight's eyes started to water up.

'No, don't fall for it.'

Twilight started to sob.

'She is too grown up now to keep falling for that.'

The first tear rolled down her face.

'Oh, come on! The ruler of Equestria won't break for that!'

Another one.

"*SIIIIIIIIIIIIIGH* I'll see if he can allow you visiting his lab every once in a while," Celestia said while her pride was wounded for she was defeated by the eyes of her student. Upon hearing those words, Celestia saw her student's face light up as a huge smile took over Twilight's muzzle. "You need to stop with that habit," Celestia said pulling her into a hug.

"I don't know what you are talking about," Twilight replied with an innocent smile.

"You are just as devious as you are smart, aren't you?" Celestia said giggling a bit, it didn't matter how bad her day had been. Just seeing Twilight's happy smile made her happy in a way she couldn't quite describe. "Now, off to bed. You have classes tomorrow and I have duties to attend to."

Celestia saw Twilight look up at her with a slight blush. "Er...Princess I..."

"You read another one of those horror novels, didn't you? You know that they scare you. Why do you read them? Besides, you're getting a bit too old to come to sleep with me whenever you have bad dreams. You're sixteen already. I wish you would stop doing that," Celestia said while her left ear twitched due to the lie she had just told.

'Please ask.'

"Pretty please?" Twilight replied with puppy eyes and fidgeting a bit. "And I'm almost seventeen!"

"Ok," Celestia said while rolling her eyes. "Come on, I'll comb your mane before we go to sleep."

"But what about my pajamas?"

"Like you don't even have some spare ones in my drawers." Celestia watched Twilight let out a mild laugh while she scratching the back of her head. Then she went to the drawers and got her spare pajamas, soon after Celestia went to get her comb.

'It's been a while since I last took care of Twilight. I wish I could tutor her on my own and keep her away from all those blasted nobles in the academy. But the families already cause enough trouble simply due to me having her around,' Celestia thought as she made the comb run through Twilight's mane.

'Enough about that, I'll just enjoy this time with my...daughter...'

(A few weeks later)

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" Twilight squealed and darted around the lab. "You've been busy! These calibrators are on point! OOOOOOO! Is that the schematic for the new power cell you're working on? That's a magic scan?! Can I get a reading on my magic levels? Wait...Did you modify this to be a magic fluctuator reader?!"

"Um...Princess, I think your student is broken," Twilight heard from behind her, however, she completely ignored the remark and kept running around.

"No, Mr. Areneo. That's just how she is," Twilight heard Celestia say that followed by a small laugh from her.

"How is the project going?" Twilight asked running straight to the stallion and positioning herself in front of Arel. "Do you need an extra hand? I'm sure I can help out! If you-?!" The stallion held her mouth shut for a second.

"First of all, remember to breathe. Second of all, I am just as excited about this project as you are. Third, if you are as smart as your teacher here claims I would hire in a heartbeat if there weren't restrictions for the staff that works here. Nopony bellow eighteen is allowed."

"But..."

"Sorry, but there is a risk of explosions happening here, Mrs. Sparkle," Arel retorted petting Twilight's head. "I even had one of our members install a security system to allow us to shut this lab off the other ones and reduce any damage."

"Okay..." Twilight replied looking to the ground.

'I really wanted to get in though! This place is fantastic! The devices all seem to have been modified! There are schematics all over the place!'

"Since you can't get in," Twilight's ears perked up the moment she heard those words. "Got your attention, eh? How about we give you two a little demonstration for the current state of the amplifier?" Twilight started to shake her head up and down like she was having a seizure.

"Looks like she really wants to," Twilight heard the princess comment while she tried to keep her balance due to her head shaking. "Please, show us your progress."

"Okay! Everypony to their stations! Protective gear up now! Activate the blast walls! I want a vocal confirmation that everypony is in place!" Twilight eagerly skipped in place while she saw the scientists running around and flipping switches. Suddenly a metal shutter came down from the ceiling blocking a specific area of the room.

"Blast walls in place! Activating transparency spell!"

"Magic energy amplifier in place and waiting!"

"Magical energy pathway secure and waiting!"

"Magic flow stabilized and within acceptable levels! Waiting to allow its flow!"

Twilight was getting even more excited, there numbers, devices working at full throttle, scientists making calculations. It was, in short, everything she ever wanted. She longed to be part of this world of numbers and ideas, bringing forth new discoveries and advancements for all beings in Equis.

It was at this point that Twilight saw Arel turn to her and speak. "Do you want to flip the switch and begin the experiment?"

"Can I?!" Twilight shot back, almost squealing with excitement.

She saw the scientist laugh before he handed a remote with a red button and a green button. Twilight saw Arel point at the green button and then he turned around towards the sealed off area. Twilight locked her eyes where the device was resting and pressed the button.

A stream of colorful energy flowed through the path the scientists had set, once it had reached its destination, the energy passed through the device. The amplifier started to shake and vibrate as the energy passed through it and got larger after leaving the device. It was a marvelous spectacle of colors that shone throughout the lab illuminating the walls and the ponies within.

Out of nowhere, smoke started to come out of the amplifier, followed by sparks and even more vibration.

"Twilight! The red button now!" Arel shouted, Twilight obeyed the command and the magic flow was cut and the amplifier stopped making noises.

"What happened?" Twilight asked with her ears drooped at the side of her head. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, I guess we still need to work out the stabilizer. The adjustments we made seem to have improved the overall performance of the amplifier. But we still need to overcome the limitations the size imposes. We don't want a can-sized amplifier in the power cell. We want a small device, effective and practical." Twilight watched Arel scratch his chin as he said all that, his gaze locked on to the defective device.

'He looks so serious now. But...he also seems very happy. It's almost...like his eyes are sparkling! He must really love inventing and overcoming obstacles.'

"Well, I need to make some new calculations. If you'll excuse me," As he said that, Twilight saw Arel pull out a necklace from his clothes before heading out.

'What was that about?'

(Months later zebrecan village)

"Mrs. Daring Do. We do not know what you speak of. There are no such ruins in that area. At least none that we know off."

"Then how do you explain these?" Daring replied tossing the pictures she took on the table. All the proof she needed to get the village chief to talk.

She had been contacted by Princess Celestia herself to do a bit of an investigation regarding some rumors running through the borders about a village that suddenly started to dominate neighboring villages in commerce and weaponry. Daring went to check and found out a humongous ruin, unlike anything she had ever seen.

An underground network of tunnels filled to the brim with relics and gold, while snooping around, she saw some zebrecans moving around and trying to clear up a door that was surrounded by rubble. That's when she took the pictures, the workers seemed to be using very advanced gear, but there was no logo. Therefore all she knew some corporation was paying them to conduct an illegal excavation. One thing she did notice though, was that the locals would not touch the gold or the relics, they actually seemed very concerned with even touching it.

"Ah! W-well y-you see. T-the that site is actually..."

"Is actually what?!" Daring asked slamming her fist on the table. "Spit it out! Who is paying you to conduct an illegal excavation?"

"I-I don't know!" The village chief said backing up. "The outsider came and asked about the ruins that were established as cursed by our ancestors. We did not know much about them. The stranger then asked us to go into the ruin and search for a collapsed area. We were desperate since our harvest was a disaster due to a sickness taking over our fields."

"Hold on! If he asked about the ruin, how did he know about the collapsed area?"

"The stranger had a book with him. After making us an offer for money, products, and means of defending ourselves, we accepted the request and he made a map for us using the book."

'So, whoever is pulling the strings is rich enough to have all of these expenses in exchange for labor. They also seem to have access to some knowledge we do not have. Meaning that this might not be their first operation.'

"How did your contractor keep tabs on you?"

"Every week, a different pony would come asking for a report."

'Ok, only ponies... a new one each week...this being is has a lot of ponies on their payroll. Which eliminates the local crime rings and minor companies. We might be dealing with some big fishes here.'

"How would you identify this supervisor if every time it was somepony else?"

"They would come with crates containing the tools for our work and the other items we agreed on our contract."

"And that's all? Any brand on the crates? Anything identifying who they were?"

"Nothing, Mrs. Daring! I swear!"

Daring sat back down, tipped her hat back, and stared at the ceiling for a moment. 'I need to think more. I can send a warning to the Princess, but that might end up bad for these zebras. Not to mention that...if I warn the Princess, the ones responsible might get wind of this and disappear in a flash. If this isn't their first operation, they might have somepony in the castle to monitor anything that may point to their activities. That means...'

Daring stood up and walked outside without saying a word to the chief, once outside, she looked up to the blue skies above her. There were fewer clouds there when compared to the cities, a huge blue sea looming over their heads.

'These clear skies are one of the reasons I live in a forest. Having a view like this surely helps to think. Well, I better report this to the princess directly instead of sending a letter or a report through one of her soldiers.' Daring thought as she opened her wings and took off.

(Several weeks later)

"Working overtime?" Celestia asked the scientist that was tinkering with some device. He didn't seem to expect that since he jumped, fell off his chair and dropped his tools. "That was quite the reaction. Did I catch you doing something illegal?" Celestia commented after a giggle.

"N-no," Arel replied getting up. "I just didn't expect to meet somepony here at this hour of the night," He said while brushing off the dirt.

"Well, then what were you doing?"

"I want to understand more about different devices. So, I decided to use my free time and the small part of my pay that doesn't go to the project to get my hands on some of these magi-tech devices," He replied sitting back in front of the typewriter.

"And what are doing with them?" Celestia asked seeing all the wires and the different parts that he had disassembled.

"I first learn how they are built and how they work. Then I try to put it back together while trying to make some modifications of my own. It's both fun and educative," Arel answered while he kept messing with the different parts, his eyes were practically shining as he removed and observed each component.

"You are a very curious stallion, you know that?"

"I'll take that as a compliment," He replied with his back turned to her. "But I think that your visit isn't about my working habits, is it?"

"Correct," Celestia said crossing her arms. "A few days ago, an acquaintance of mine came back from an errand I gave her a few weeks ago. Now I have to deal with a little issue regarding an illegal excavation. A team is already there and they found a relic that appeared to be the target to whoever was funding the excavation."

"I see, but what does that have to do with our laboratory or our team?"

"I caught word of how you've been helping some of the other projects by modifying their gear allowing them to continue their projects," Arel stopped his work and placed his tools down. "Before we move the relic, we need to collect some data on it. But the equipment on site isn't actually responding very well to the relic. We had an accident already."

"And that's what you want from me, right? To make it safer and make the data actually attainable," Celestia replied to that with a nod.

"I know you've been working a lot on your project. Both here and outside," Celestia watched his ears perk up and he quickly turned around, he looked serious. "Before you say anything. There were some complaints about some weird individuals appearing and stalking around the labs. One of them dropped a notebook with several names checked out, except for yours."

"Therefore you placed somepony to watch over me and saw me using the necklace," Arel replied pulling out the ornament.

"I dare say you are very crafty. A pocket dimension spell is hard to detect, and given the quality...you must have spent a decent amount of bits on it," Celestia said reaching for it, however, before she could touch it Arel pulled it away. "What's the matter?"

"I rather not open it here. If there are ponies out there trying to get to me, I don't want them to know how to open this. I won't have another one of my projects stolen."

"Understandable," Celestia replied sitting on the table by his side. "Can I count on you to help them out?"

Celestia waited for an answer in silence, she watched Arel stare at the parts he had removed without any sort of reaction. She couldn't tell if Arel was completely ignoring her question, or if he was actually pondering the options he had just received. Out of nowhere, Arel stood up, making Celestia almost fall off the table. He walked off into one of the cabinets within the lab.

Celestia then watched him pull out a bag, then he started to pick up some tools and placed them inside it. Then he got up and turned around to face her, Arel had a smile on his face as he placed the bag on his back.

"Who am I to turn down a request from the princess herself? And I have to say I have a really good feeling about this!" Arel said heading towards the door. After he had opened it, he turned around. "Go ahead, lead the way!"

Celestia smiled as she got off the table and walked up to Arel. "Then try to keep up!" She said after smirking and flying off.

"HEY! That's not what I meant!"

(Weeks later, excavation site)

"I really should have packed some lighter clothes..." Arel grunted as he walked through the corridors one of the members of the crew guided him. An Archeologist and linguist, he had presented himself as Milo.

"Once night comes by, you'll be glad you didn't. This place is cold as the as that frozen land north from Canterlot," The earth pony said as he made another turn.

"You mean those empty fields?" Milo nodded in positively in response. "Well, I'm gonna take your word for it. Since I'm here, what did you guys find here that is so important? Princess Celestia wouldn't tell me before I got here. Just that it was a relic you guys needed to get data from."

"Well, since none of the locals will get in the chamber and the place only has one way in. We set our camp by it and once we get there you'll see what we found."

"Is the rest of the team there?"

"Hey! Milo! We were waiting. Is that the new guy?" A female pegasus asked as she hovered over their heads.

"Yes, Kida. This is Arel Areneo. He is here as our tech specialist," Milo replied while the mare landed by his side. "Mr. Areneo, this is Kidagakash, my wife."

"Pleasure to meet you," Arel replied offering his hand, she obliged. "You're the one using the equipment that will gather the data, right?"

"Me and Audrey. Don't mess with that unicorn, she will send you flying with a kick if you piss her off."

"I'll try my best."

As Arel said that as they made another turn and passed by a huge doorway, the cracks in its structure made it look like the place had some sort of violent impact sealing that area off. After a few steps in, Arel saw some weird stains on the floor, kinda like scorch marks. Those marks were all over the walls as well, the closer he got to the center of the room the more marks appeared.

At the very center of the room, Arel saw an altar that had a pedestal about his height. At its top, a beautifully carved idol made out fo some sort of metal alloy with a silver color that had resisted the elements up until that time. The idol was shaped like a spider with red eyes, Arel could see some faint energy waves coming out from the idol.

It didn't look strong enough to have caused all the scorch marks. In fact, it didn't look like the energy it was emitting could be used for anything. Arel had seen energy readers working before, however, the ones he had seen, were limited to sensing energy fields strong enough to cause strong distortions in the light of an immediate area.

'If they want to get some readings on that, they will need to make the energy that thing is emitting stronger. My amplifier could do the trick. I don't think that it would be much of a threat with these energy levels. However, just to be safe I would need to have something to shield everypony in here. Some blast doors or something of the sort would be nice.'

"Hey! Stay away from it!" Another voice called out to Arel as he stepped closer to the idol, he was too engrossed in his own line of thought to realize what he was doing. "Milo, who is this nutjob?"

"Calm down Helga," Arel heard from his side as he was pulled by something on the same side. "This is the tech support we received from the princess. Mr. Arel Areneo."

"An earth pony?" Arel offered his hand, the female unicorn with a yellow coat and golden mane simply looked at him from top to bottom. "Young and without a horn messing around with magic energy? This won't end well."

"Give the kid a chance!" Another voice called out from behind her, then another earth pony stallion came from behind her. He looked a bit different and he had some sort of accent. He was also wearing some sort of metal plate over his chest. "You also thought I couldn't blow through that rubble without damaging the inside, yet here we are!"

"Arel, this is Helga Sinclair. Our security chief and leader of the operation. The metal guy is Vicenzo Santorini, but we just call him Vinny," Arel offered his hand again, but this time to the earth pony, he shook it with gusto. "Be careful though, he has a lot of volatile stuff around his tent."

"You're a demolition specialist?"

"Right."

"What exactly do you have?"

"Dynamites, grenades, nitroglycerin, detonator, TNT, flares, timers, BIG paper clips...all office stuff."

"That's one hell of an office. Do you have anything to protect yourself and your companions?"

"Let's see," The stallion replied reaching to a back pocket, after a few seconds of running through it. He pulled out a small box. "I can use this to detonate some bombs that I'm not exactly sure how to disarm or when I'm experimenting with different bombs I made. It seals the bomb inside it. It can hold a blast of about 20 tons of TNT. If it exceeds this limit, the box breaks but at least reduces the blast radius considerably."

"That's actually pretty nice!" Arel said while he leaned closer to the box in order to examine it. "Can it hold ponies or other things besides bombs?"

"I never tried, but I guess it can."

"And why would you want to seal ponies in there?" Another voice came by, however, this time it came from behind Arel. "Planning of shipping yourself away?"

"Audrey, this is our-"

"Yeah, yeah, Milo. Our tech support. Now, answer the question." She was a pegasus, and she seemed to have a bit of a short fuse.

"Oh, based on what I've seen of the idol. It seemed to be emitting small energy waves that are too weak to be detected with the current equipment available to us. I think I might be able to set the bar lower enough for use to detect something, but not enough to get data from it. So, I guess we can use a prototype of mine to amplify the energy so we can get some readings on it."

Arel took a deep breath before continuing his explanations. "However, this prototype isn't entirely safe. All the experiments I made so far had some blast doors set up to protect me and my crew due to some of the earlier stages ending up with a big KABOOM! I guess you get the picture."

"Smart, so you pretend to use a remote gathering system to get the data while using your device. Not bad for a newcomer," She commented before feigning a punch, Arel braced himself for it. "Two for flinching," Audrey said before hitting him twice on his arm.

"I guess this is the entire crew," Milo said before pointing to a tent that seemed empty. "You're sleeping there. Set your things and then we can start to work."

"Sure," Arel replied heading to the spot showed by Milo.

The tent was small like the others, on the outside at the very least. After stepping inside, Arel saw that it was considerably big, there was actually a bed set up. There was a small table with some drawers, inspecting them, Arel found several components and tools he had brought with him.

'I guess this is a project with the Princess' full attention. I've seen other projects have some pretty big funding. Wonder how my project would do if I had this kind of money backing me up.'

"Like your accommodations?" That wasn't Kida's voice or Audrey's. "I apologize for the comment I made earlier. I take the safety of this team very seriously."

"Understandable," Arel replied putting his bag on the floor. "I try to keep my staff safe as well. And you're not the first one to mistreat me due to the fact that work with the magical energy that isn't within my body," He continued as he turned around, Helga was right in front of him. She offered her hand this time around, that was the first time Arel had somepony actually do that.

"Let's try this again, my name is Helga Sinclair. Chief of security," Arel reached for her hand and she squeezed it making him wince. "Put my crew in danger and you'll have to deal with me. Why are you wincing?"

"I-I may be an earth pony. But I'm not actually strong. And you're breaking my freaking hand! I need it to make my work!" After hearing that, the unicorn let go of him. She looked at her hand and then back at Arel.

"How in Tartarus did you make it this far being this weak?" Helda then raised her hand to her chin and started to look at Arel from top to bottom again and again. After a few moments she started to walk in circles around him, Arel felt uneasy as her gaze kept scanning him. "So fragile..." She muttered as a strange grin that sent chills rolling down Arel's spine formed on her muzzle before she left.

'Okay. I don't think I want to be near her when I'm alone. What the fuck was that about?'

Arel quietly went to the tent's front, he peeked through it and saw Helga walking all the way to her tent. Before she entered tough, Arel noticed Helga looked over her shoulder. The look she had once again made Arel feel a chill, he retreated deeper back into his tent.

After shaking off the uneasiness, Arel proceeded to remove his tools and his clothes from the bag. Then he proceeded to settle himself in, once everything was in its place, Arel went back outside.

'Let's make this place work!'

From that point, Arel dedicated most of his time to working on Audrey's gear. Fine tuning the receivers, increasing the sensibility for the energy reader, altering the parameters for the data processor, building an outer casing for the processor that could withstand a blast. And above all else, Arel started to build a simpler version of his amplifier. Setting all the safety locks and security lockdowns was his main concern.

The crew was very welcoming towards him, whenever Arel had doubts about the place or where to get something they would give him directions. Even regular questions regarding the place they were in, or what brought them here were also answered.

From Milo, Arel learned that the idol seemed to be worshiped once upon a time. Something about a guardian of destiny that watched over all the fates of the living, and he could see all through the web of fate he could create. There was also something about a ritual for awakening the spirit, the instructions on how to do it was damaged, however, it seemed to involve channeling energy into the statue. All that info was contained within a damaged papyrus that hey recovered within that very chamber when they first got there. Another perk was Milo teaching a bit about translating and lent him some books on the subject.

Kida showed Arel some new information regarding magical energy reading. Apparently, a theory that was known to field researchers and ignored by lab coats, was the idea that when the magical energy readings that they got from the machines were about 20% below their actual value. The working theory was that when the machine had energy coursing through it, the energy would be lost to the circuit, meaning that whatever readings they got were actually wrong.

Audrey, she seemed like your ordinary technician. However, she was a true genius when it came to building up a new magi-tech gear. Her planning and schematics were on point, the issue she had was the amount of energy some of them required to use. Making them actually impractical, Arel managed to help her out in some projects, however, the changes he made in the projects always seemed to reduce the performance of the gadget. In return, she taught him everything she knew about building magi-tech from scratch.

Vicenzo was a strange one, Arel walked up on him one day when he wanted to test the blast box and found Vinny making some markings on the walls. Once Arel asked him what he was doing, Vinny told him about a habit he had, in enclosed spaces like that, he would always find the structural weaknesses of the place and estimate the number of explosives he would need to demolish the place. When Arel asked why he would do that, the answer he got was a bunch of mumbling that he didn't quite understand. However, he did learn about finding those spots and some new information about explosives and their best uses.

The only pony Arel avoided at all costs was Helga, however, he did notice that regardless of what he was doing, she would always be watching. Her eyes were always locked on to him, her gaze made Arel feel extremely uncomfortable whenever he was near Audrey or Kida. And whenever she started to approach Arel would immediately try to talk with somepony, anypony who was near him.

Arel brought it up with Milo, but Milo reassured him that it was just his imagination. As days passed, Arel began to feel more and more uncomfortable. One night, Arel woke up because he had to use the restroom, which was a chemical one. While making his way there, Arel did hear some noises some muffled voices were near it. The tent near the restroom had a dim light coming from it.

There was a faint silhouette on the tent's side, it looked like to figures that were very close. That was Milo's tent, Arel decided that it was best to ignore it. After doing his business, Arel tried to get back. But somepony grabbed hold of him and covered his mouth.

"Shhhhh. Quiet now," Arel's eyes widened, that was Helga's voice. Arel tried to break free, but she was way stronger than him. "Don't make a fuss. I'll just get you back to my tent. I need to have a talk with you. If just apply a little more force I might break your arm," She said with a strange voice before twisting his arm a bit more. "I'll have so much fun with you. Just like playing with a delicate toy. Tough I can be a bit rough."

Arel started to think of a way out of that, there wasn't anything around that he could grab. There was something he could kick tough. Before she could drag him away from it, Arel used everything he had to hit, which resulted in the restroom rolling over and making a loud noise as its contents spilled out of it.

Helga was startled by the event and loosened up her grip, allowing a chance for Arel to run away as the others woke up and he snuck back into his tent. On the following morning, Arel found a note that was slid underneath the tent's side where his worktable was. He only saw it coming because he didn't manage to sleep after the event, Arel even got one of his tools that could be used as a weapon and spent all night sitting at the center of his tent turning around every ten seconds.

You can put up a fight. I like it.

At the end of the note, there was a marking of a kiss. Arel tore the note to pieces, after that he was even more on edge whenever he found himself near Helga. She, on the other hand, seemed to be a bit more aggressive to compensate his cautiousness.

Arel tried to tell the others what had happened, but whenever he tried to bring it up. Helga would pull out some random stunt and take all of the attention, which always ended with her looking at Arel with a smirk. Whenever any of the others weren't looking, she would always wink or send a kiss.

'There is something very wrong with that mare. I need to get the amplifier done, finish off this job, and then I need to leave.'

Luck seemed to be on his side, he managed to finish the last of the safety locks. Now he was off to cover the last bit of the job, once Kida confirmed that they got the data they needed, Arel could go away from the crazed unicorn. Arel was very proud of the prototype he managed to pull together, the new schematics were also added to the ones he had within his necklace. To add up to his luck, Audrey seemed to be bothered to how jumpy he had been in the last few days. Which resulted in her starting to watch over him.

Time continued to pass, until the day when they were going to use the data recorder for the first time combined with the amplifier. Something odd happened that day, after waking up, Arel dressed himself up and went to his worktable. It was empty, his tools, his components, his amplifier.

Instinctively, Arel reached out for his neck and realized that he no longer had his necklace. Arel bolted out of his tent, and the first thing he saw shocked him. Helga was knocked out on the floor near the idol, there was a bit of blood dripping from the back of her head.

Crouching near it, Arel saw Audrey with a bloody wrench on her belt as she kept messing with something Arel couldn't see. Rushing over to the wounded mare, Arel checked her and managed to hear that she was still breathing. Suddenly Arel felt something hit the side of his head, getting him stunned and making him fall.

"I was hoping you wouldn't wake up early just once," Audrey said tinkering with something Arel believed to be his device. Around her neck, his missing necklace. "Before you ask, I won't tell why I'm doing this. But I will thank you for updating my devices schematics. That creep was right about you being smart but naive."

"Not that it matters anyway, you guys won't come out of this alive. Take a look," She continued tossing one of the readers Arel had modified. The numbers read sixty times the cap of Vinny blast box, looking up Arel saw the energy waves around the idol causing heavy distortions around it. "The radius will erase even that tiny village. Lucky for you, you won't be awake to fell any of that."

'I've been betrayed again...'

When she finished saying that, Audrey stomped the reader. Then she kicked Arel on the head, making him black out.

"WAKE UP!"

A ringing sound accompanied by a distant voice echoed in Arel's head. His eyes slowly opened as a strong headache took over. The one that was shaking him was Helga, behind her, Arel saw Milo running around picking up his things as Kida did the same.

Moving his head around, Arel realized that Vinny was placing something on the walls. Suddenly the ringing sound faded and all of his senses came back.

"YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

"We got to evacuate!" Arel finally managed to speak.

"No kidding genius!" Arel heard as he got back on his hooves, but his legs were bad. He couldn't stand straight, infact he couldn't stand.

'Audrey must have done something to my legs as well.'

"No! I mean the nearby village. The blast radius of that thing is going to erase everything all the way to that point! Audrey showed me the readings from the idol before she knocked me out."

"What?!" Helga exclaimed. Arel turned to see her biting her lip and squeezing her head, almost like she was trying to squeeze an idea out of her head.

Arel started to look around, he saw the blast box, then he saw the explosives Vinny was placing on the walls. Arel then looked back to the idol, the thing was vibrating a lot, so was the amplifier. Based on what he was seeing, getting everypony out of the blast radius in time was out of the question.

'We can try to reduce the blast radius. The blast box, the ruins. That should reduce it by a decent amount. However, I can't run away. And have any of them carry me outside wouldn't help either. Helga is in no condition to use her magic after a wound like that.'

"HELGA!" Arel shouted breaking her panic state. "Help Vinny place the dynamites! KIDA! Fly to the village, get them to evacuate immediately! MILO! Help me out! VINNY! Once you're through the explosives. Give me the blast box and the detonators!"

Helga obeyed immediately, so did Kida. Milo dropped all the things he had in his hands and went to Arel. "What do you need?"

"Get me to the altar," Milo dragged Arel all the way up to the altar and leaned Arel over the pedestal. "Okay, now get me the amplifier, the idol, and that damaged blast box over there," Arel watched Milo dart around to get the items. The amplifier he got using some sort of bag that ended up melting just as he got near Arel's side.

"What now?" He asked placing the items before Arel.

"Okay. Now get out there and help Kida!"

"What?"

"JUST FUKCKING GO!" Arel screamed making the stallion fall backward and run away.

After that, Arel got the idol and the amplifier. The amplifier was scorching hot, Arel wrapped it around some of his clothes and brought it closer. The idol Arel placed on his lap, the box he held on his left hand. Soon after, Vinny came running with Helga that started to stumble a bit.

"Here, what do you plan to do?" Vinny said handing the detonators and an intact box, as soon as he saw all the items Arel had around him, Vinny's eyes widened. "No, you're crazy!"

"What?" Helga asked from behind him.

"The kid is planning to stay behind!"

"What?! No! I am the security chief and leader. If somepony has to stay behind-"

"SHUT UP! I can't walk! If I can reduce the blast, then I'll do it! Just show me how to seal myself in the box!"

Vinny hesitated a bit, Helga came forth protesting once again. "NO! You're part of the crew, we won't-"

"You said I can put up a fight. Well, guess what? This is how I'm going to put up a fight against Audrey. By not letting her have her way! How are YOU going to fight back against her, Helga?! Huh?! TELL ME!" The mare kept silent, the idol started to shake more violently as well as the amplifier. "GET OUT THERE AND SHOW THAT BITCH WHAT YOU ARE MADE OFF!"

Arel watched Helga try to come with a retort before she squinted her eyes and ran away as fast as she could. Vinny kneeled down near Arel and pointed at a button near the edges of the box. "Press that one and hold it for two seconds. You and everything you're have will be engulfed by the box."

Vinny then placed his hand on Arel's shoulder and muttered. "Thank you. You might save a lot of lives today, kid."

"Enough with the sap. GO!"

Arel watched Vinny run away full speed. Once he passed through the doorway, Arel grabbed everything around him and used the damaged box. Then he used the second undamaged box, once the double casing was placed, Arel pressed the detonators.

The box shook and shook violently as a deafening sound reverberated through the metal walls, making him drop both the idol and the amplifier as he rolled around. His ears were hurting like hell, after a few seconds of agonizing, Arel dragged himself to the items and placed both underneath his body.

'Well, father...I guess I'm not throwing my life away. I'm preventing a bigger loss. I guess that this is the day I die.'

A white flash was the last thing he saw. After it, there was just a pitch black void.

(Several Days later)

"What is the meaning of this?!" Celestia asked after hearing the lawyer finish reading the document he had on him. A huge crowd was gathered behind him. It was a public audience after all.

"It is exactly as you heard Princess. I'm sorry to inform that the public has requested that your research lab is shut down. Due to one of your employees being the one responsible for a major catastrophe that has taken the lives of many citizens of a foreign country. Therefore your research center has been deemed a danger for all of Equestria. The council of nobles has approved this request. Should you decline, the public could assume that you don't care about their safety."

Celestia frowned at the information she had just received. "What catastrophe? Where?"

"In Zebrecan territory, a humongous explosion has destroyed half of a village and took out half of its inhabitants. The culprit, Arel Areneo. Who has also been requested to be sentenced to death."

Celestia's eyes widened, she could not believe what she was hearing. "H-how? How come I was not informed of this?!"

"I do not know what you're talking about your highness," The lawyer said with a devilish grin. "This news regarding the incident has been all over the papers in all of our country."

'This doesn't make any sense. Unless...no. They couldn't have...'

"We also found the unconscious body of the terrorist in the rubble. He was holding to a common idol for dear life. He was severely wounded by the blast. But somehow he managed to survive. The testimony of one of the crew members Audrey Ramirez gave us the full picture."

"And just what is that picture?" Celestia asked glaring daggers at the grinning devil.

"Mr. Areneo used an unauthorized magi-tech prototype that went haywire. The remains of the item were found on the scene with the culprit. According to Mrs. Audrey, that was extremely traumatized by the event, Mr. Areneo activated the device without heeding to her warnings or any of the crew members."

"HOLD IT!" Some voices called out from the crowd.

A golden-maned unicorn accompanied by a cream coated earth pony and a gray coated pegasus broke through the crowd. They walked past the guards after Celestia gave them a signal to grant passage to the trio.

"Helga. What happened?" Celestia asked walking off her throne, the group was in bad shape.

"Arel Areneo saved all of the villagers! Some soldiers came by later and shot down half of them! They even placed explosives to simulate the damage that would have been caused by the explosion! Audrey was the one that caused it! Arel just attempted to reduce the radius!"

The crowd started to whisper and murmur after she said that. Celestia smirked and looked back at the lawyer, who had an even bigger grin on his muzzle now.

"My dear! You seem to be confused. The stallion's fingertips were the only ones on the device we recovered. We also found them on the weapon that had your blood on it. And if Audrey's testimony is correct, you were wounded on the back of the head by the coward. Unless you have proof to prove her testimony wrong, I'm afraid nothing you said can be used to defend him."

"Not to mention that the most incriminating piece of evidence hasn't been shown yet!" The lawyer said pulling out a necklace. "I present to you, the schematics that show that he was completely aware of the risks of activating the device in its current state."

"Why you-?!" Celestia watched the mare try to run at the lawyer, however, her companions managed to stop her.

'I caused this, I sent him away from the labs where I could keep tabs on him and prevent him from being hurt by the ones that were stalking him. I allowed this to happen!

"Then let us correct your theory," Celestia heard Kida say before she pulled out a device from her pocket. "I had placed a black box inside every single device of our camp. The devices were linked to the monitors of the devices, and they recorded everything that happened during the time they were turned on. And guess from which one this came from? We took it away before your soldiers managed to grab hold of it."

The lawyer's grin was quickly replaced by a scowl. Celestia thanked whatever star was watching over Arel at that moment. Kida activated the box and the recordings started to play, or that what Celestia hoped for. Static was all that came out of it, for several minutes that was all that came out.

Suddenly, the recording showed Arel being shaken by Helga that kept trying to wake him up. Then his attempts to stand up, his orders while he tried to reduce the blast radius, and finally the moment he sealed himself in and when the explosion happened.

'That's not enough to clear him completely. But it should prove that he tried to stop the event,' Celestia thought to herself as she bit her lip, it didn't take long for her to notice that the lawyer was wiping off the sweat. 'Bastard!'

"Well, my dear. That only shows that he had a conscience. Everything else we have proves that he was the one responsible."

"I don't think so," This time it was Milo that walked forth. "I have an eyewitness that states that Audrey Ramirez left the scene long before any of us left the ruin!"

"That is correct!" A fourth voice called out from the crowd. A figure wearing a cloak stepped out of the crowd, its face and body were completely concealed by it. "This one saw the mare called Audrey Ramirez run out of the ruins long before any of the others emerged from it."

"And just who are you?" The lawyer asked gritting his teeth.

"This one is called Zecora. The village that had been saved by the stallion's sacrifice was this one's home. Then the soldiers came by and killed this one's family. She was forced to watch her brothers and sisters die by the hands of merciless thugs!" The figure said tossing her cloak aside, revealing her tribal costume and race. A zebra with green eyes that had a tattoo at the base of her neck.

There were tears rolling out of her eyes, her voice was firm and did not crack. Celestia could feel the conviction behind her claims, the heartache of her loss. Celestia turned to the crowd and saw them looking at Zecora, their eyes glued to her figure. They were all whispering. Suddenly, a voice broke through.

"Let him live!"

"The boy tried to save them!"

"He is a vegetable now! He has paid for his crimes!"

'She got them out of the lawyer's hands. Mr. Areneo is safe from the death sentence!'

More and more screams came from the crowd, Celestia couldn't help but smile at the look from the lawyers face. If she were to sentence him to death now, she would have an issue, the lawyer and the ones who approved the request would also be in big trouble.

"W-well, since it's the will of our citizens. We withdraw the request for a death sentence," Celestia let out a discreet sigh of relief, however, the lawyer wasn't finished. "However, we request that the scientist Arel Areneo is forbidden from developing any magi-tech devices within the capital! He has proved to be incapable of doing so without putting others in harm's way."

Celestia heard the crowd cheer and applaud the request. The lawyer was still scowling and glaring daggers at Zecora, Celestia understood what he meant to do with that request.

'By having him unable to research that inside the capital. They prevent him from being under a fair protection that would shield him from their interventions. And if he were to get a big enough lab outside, he would easily be targeted and taken down by them. Then they can pull the same stunt they just tried to pull. Actually, if even sets hoof outside the capital without guards...he might get taken down.'

'And given his current reputation, he won't be able to get any work. No pony in their right mind would hire him with the risk of staining their institution. But the populace is backing this bastard up.'

Celestia rolled her eyes as she let out a defeated sigh before using her royal Canterlot voice. "I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree the immediate closure of the research center, Celestia's Research Center. I also decree that the earth pony known as Arel Areneo is prohibited to research and, or develop magi-tech devices within the Capital. You are all excused."

'Now, I need to figure out where Mr. Areneo is hospitalized. Then I'll have some of my most...no I'll have to figure out a way to keep him safe on my own. I need to make this right!'

(Meanwhile)

"This purgatory is so boring. Just an endless void with nothing to see or do," Arel said to break the ever-present silence.

Arel had no idea how much time had passed, all he knew was that ever since the bright flash from the explosion, all he ever saw was that never-ending void. There were no signs of anypony else but him there. Back when he first woke up there, he screamed and looked for another being, any being would suffice.

It didn't take long for Arel to discover that he couldn't move forward, all he could do was spin around. Arel concluded that he was dead and soon he had to move on, all he needed to do was stand still and wait for a guide or something to change. There was only one issue, how could Arel trust anypony that came for him?

"Not purgatory," A new voice echoed through the darkness. "This is the current state of your mind. The place is completely sealed off while your body recovers from the damage caused by the explosion."

"And just who are you? I'm not exactly in a decent mood for jokes. How can I be alive if I was at the very center of the explosion?"

"You doubt my word? I am the spirit of that watches over fate!"

"You sound more like the child. Go bother somepony else. I have no interest in your games. I just want to pass on."

"I'll make you see that you're alive. But a fair warning: You'll be in a lot of pain."

Just as the voice finished saying that, Arel began to feel his eyes opening. Suddenly an excruciating pain took over, Arel could barely see something that resembled the inside of a hospital room. A white and tall figure was sitting by his side, Arel started to try to move, he wanted to talk. But the pain, the pain prevented him from doing anything at all, all he managed to do was make the white figure come over him.

Just as suddenly as the pain came, it disappeared and Arel found himself back in the black void.

"I-I'm actually...alive?"

"Are you going to listen to me or not?"

"I'll listen to what you have to say. If I'll believe you, that's another story."

"Very well. In the past, I was summoned by more than one mortal seeking the power that lies dormant within me. The power I can grant to those who manage to awaken my idol. They all achieved this through the use of innocent lives to fuel me. And all of them met the same fate. Madness and death."

"Oh, boo-hoo. They got what they deserved. They should have thought of the consequences of using bystanders as fuel."

"You sir, are the very first mortal to awaken me without using the lives of innocents. As a result, I can't use my curse on you. Meaning I can grant you the power sleeping within me."

"And what do you win from this?"

"Nothing, I just fulfilled my duty."

"Then keep it. I won't be indebted to you. Or anypony else I know I can't trust ever again. That means everypony I don't know."

"I apologize, but you don't have a choice in the matter. You've been exposed to a humongous amount of energy. That energy has already been embedded in your soul and body. Arel Areneo, this energy has granted you powers that no being has ever yielded before. Your body is already being healed by it, I am bound by rules that prevent me from telling you what these powers are."

"How convenient. I'm stuck with this either way then."

"Yes, I am allowed to tell you this though, due to the energy coursing through you. You are allowed to see and understand the flow of magic. Meaning that your understanding of everything related to the flow of magical energy will be well above the other beings."

"Lucky me," Arel commented turning around.

"Just bear with the darkness for a little longer. You'll be back on your hooves before you know it."

(A month after the trial, hospital)

'A month in a coma. The doctors keep saying he won't wake up. But something is off, his injuries disappeared, he woke up for a brief moment. His health improved, and there is something different about Mr. Areneo. I can't put my finger on it, I just wish that he would wake up. I wish to apologize, for all the problems and misfortune I caused.'

"Urrrgh..."

That voice made Celestia look up. Arel was moving and his eyes were open.

"Y-you're awake!" Celestia said getting up and walking closer to him.

"D-don't shout! My head is hurting like nopony's business."

Celestia let out a sigh of relief before she sat back on her chair. "I guess this is the day you came back from the dead, isn't it?"

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoyed this reading, please let me know what you thought of it.