Having been exhausted from their fight against the hydra, the Battle Foals had their delayed dinner and called it a night. Cloudsdale had passed over them, and it was already a considerable distance away, so nopony was too worried about anypony up there witnessing the chaos that had ensued earlier, even Quantum Tech’s death ray. Learning more about Tidal Wave, and the start of their ascent up the Great Horn Summit would have to wait until tomorrow.
When tomorrow came, the foals wasted no time packing up aside from some food to cook, but they’d first have to explain the situation to Tidal Wave before anything else. Air Slash took a little bit longer to get up this time, but it was of no hindrance. They all bid each other good morning as Fire Fight got started on their breakfast. “So…..what’s up with all of you?” Tidal Wave asked shyly.
Spiral Galaxy giggled. “What’s with you, buddy? I know we kinda just met, but no need to be so reserved.”
“Well, I-I mean…..You kinda threw me clean into a tree yesterday….” Tidal Wave said.
“Ugh. I said I was sorry.” Spiral said. “Anyway, to answer your question….” Spiral let Fire Fight focus on breakfast while she instead explained everyone’s situation save for Shadow Shroud being a Shadewalker- he seemed a little skittish, so she didn’t want to potentially scare him off. She then told him about their visit from Princess Luna and the warning she gave to ascend the mountain to the portal to Griffonstone. “Did you get all of that?”
There were a lot of details for sure, but Tidal Wave managed to let it all sink in. Although, he found himself dumbfounded at everything they’ve been through. “Yeah, but…..Jeez! You guys don’t screw around!”
“What gave you the impression that we did?” Shadow Shroud teased. Tidal Wave just rolled his eyes.
Fire Fight then came over and served them their breakfast- mushroom omelettes to welcome their new arrival. “Here you go, guys!” They all thanked him, and he sat down to join them. “So, what about you, Tidal Wave? If…you’re comfortable talking about it, why’d you run away?”
“I’m still frazzled that you’d simply jump! Quite the rash decision, I must say.” Quantum Tech said.
“Quantum Tech, you forget once more that he is a pegasus. He could simply fly all the way down.” Zebota said.
“A-Actually…” Tidal Wave stammered. The others looked at him as he stared down at his untouched omelette. “I-I can’t.” he said solemnly. “The wings I’ve got can’t get me aloft. I can barely hover off the ground. They’re not suited for aerial mobility at all, so…..I can’t fly….Aside from gliding, I guess. I can at least do that.”
Suddenly, Zebota and Quantum felt like jerks for bringing that up and probably should have expected that. “O-Oh….I’m sorry, darling.” Quantum said.
“It’s cool….” Tidal Wave said. “Anyways, everypony at school just made fun of me because of it. I didn’t belong anywhere, because I was the only one with fin-wings.” He explained. “They’d call me things like ‘fish out of water’ and stuff.”
Spiral especially felt bad for him since she had been the subject of such torment due to having a lack of control over her cosmomancy. “Oh, Tidal Wave….”
“How y’all even got wings like dat anyway?” Turf War asked.
Tidal Wave shrugged. “No idea. I was just…..born with them.”
This piqued Quantum’s interest. “Is that right?” She suddenly got up from her seat and trotted over to Tidal Wave. She then lifted up one of his wings and examined it. “Hmm….Could it be….”
Tidal Wave pulled his wing back and pushed her away. “Hey! I’m not a lab rat, ya know!”
“I-I’m sorry, Tidal Wave. That….was quite rude of me.” Quantum said. “I might have a theory, but it would require you to take a small sample or two of your blood for a few simple DNA tests.”
Tidal Wave was a little freaked out at the thought of his blood being taken, but Quantum didn’t seem like any sort of mad scientist despite what her death machine may imply, so he decided to let her eventually. “Uh…ok.” He said rather hesitantly.
“That doesn’t quite explain your impressive dexterity with a spear, friend. Care to elaborate?” Air Slash said.
“Yeah! You kick flank with that thing.” Fire Fight said.
Tidal Wave let out a solemn chuckle, as if to express sorrowful gratitude. “Well…..my dad’s a city guard in Cloudsdale, and his weapon of choice is always a spear. I-I’d sometimes sneak into their training area to watch him practice.....He was kinda the only friend I ever had….”
“Then…..why did you leave him?” Greensprout asked.
“Well….” Tidal Wave’s voice seemed to trail off into noticeable despair. “He never told me, but….sometimes when I snuck into their barracks to watch my dad, I could hear some of the other guards giving him a hard time about me too. He’d sometimes come home and act like everything was fine, but….I knew it was really gnawing at him.” Tidal Wave couldn’t help but to shed a tear as he remembered nights like that. “A-About me and spears, well….I kinda learned from him just by watching. Whenever he wasn’t home with me, I’d sneak a spare he had in his closet and practice somewhere private. I always wanted to be like him. Sometimes whenever I was getting picked on really badly, I’d lose my temper and grab the nearest spear-like object like a broom or something and just start fending them off; I couldn’t fly up to reach them, so that was the only way I could even touch them.”
“Damn, son! You wild!” Turf War said.
“Yeah. At least you tried to show them how pathetic they are.” Bullseye commented.
“Although, you ought to know better than to feed such fires.” Shroud said.
“I-I know, but…..It’s not my fault that I was born with these wings, and it’s not fair that even my dad had to suffer too because of it.” Tidal Wave said. “He’s always had to put on a brave face for me…..so I……I just lightened his load. I had to snag one of his spare spears just in case something like that hydra happened, but….yeah….”
“What about your mother?” Spiral asked.
Tidal Wave slowly glanced up at her with the eyes of solemn dejection. “She……She died giving birth to me…….I never knew her…….It’s just been me and my dad the whole time…..”
Everypony stopped eating when they heard Tidal Wave’s last woe. They were no strangers to tragedies befalling them by now, but it seemed that the array of tragedies that Fate would curse them with was vast and full of dreadful colors. Kickback, having lost his own mother, walked over to Tidal Wave and put his arm around him. “Partner…..” he said. “She’s up there watchin’ ya…..Ah can assure you that….”
Tidal Wave managed to crease an appreciative smile and hugged the young gunslinger. “Thanks, man.” They broke off, and Kickback returned to his seat. “What’s worse is that some of the foals at school somehow knew, and they’d say things like my mom ‘must have died of shock after seeing what a freak she gave birth to….”
Everypony’s expression turned angry after hearing that. Spiral’s bullies may have been nasty little witches, but Tidal Wave endured way more than he deserved, as his father must have as well. “Yo….Dat’s just f***ed up. Man, let ‘em come on down he’e so I can give d’hey faces a hive-five wit my hammer!” Turf War said.
Crazylocks suddenly popped up in front him, holding up her head in the air. “ME FIRST! ME FIRST!”
Greensprout gently pulled her away. “No, no, no, Crazylocks. We don’t want you to get seriously hurt.”
“Tch. I say let him. Might knock some sense back into her.” Bullseye said.
“Sister.” Greensprout reprimanded. Just hearing her call her that was enough to shut Bullseye up from frustration.
“Well, all of that aside, I promise that you have a place here now with us, Tidal Wave. We’re not gonna make fun of your wings, and I’m sure your dad will understand. You’re one of us now, and we never turn our backs on each other.” Fire Fight said.
Tidal Wave couldn’t help but to sense the aura of hope that Fire Fight seemed to emit. Despite having met him only a day ago, Tidal Wave felt more confident in himself after hearing Fire Fight and co. accept him when nopony has. “Thanks, guys.” He said. He had just finished his omelette as they finished their discussion. “That was delicious, Fire Fight!”
“Glad you enjoyed it!” Fire Fight said.
Tidal Wave then looked at Shadow Shroud. “Say….Spiral didn’t say a whole lot about you…”
Shroud devilishly giggled. “Quite courteous of her, really. She must have been so worried that your poor, little heart couldn’t take the awful truth about me.” She teased. Tidal Wave cocked his head in confusion, and Shroud explained herself. Even though the whole ‘Shadewalker’ deal was a little frightening, Tidal Wave found himself somewhat fascinated.
“Whoa…..that’s…actually really cool!” Tidal Wave said.
Shroud giggled. “I’m flattered.” she said. “Now that we’ve been formally introduced, I see no reason to delay our ascent up the mountain any longer. Agreed?”
“Yeah. We’re all packed up, so let’s head out!” Fire Fight said. “Hey, Air Slash? Think you can make some armor for Tidal Wave sometime soon?” When he looked over at the young samurai, he seemed to struggle to lift his head a little, and his breaths seemed heavier. “Dude, you okay?”
“Y-Yes…<cough>…I’m fine.” Air Slash said. “<ACHOOO!> Ugh…blast…”
Greensprout trotted up to him and put her hoof to his forehead, which was feeling kinda hot. “Oh, Air Slash! You must have caught a cold from that huge splash from the hydra yesterday.”
Air Slash felt a little hotter from having Greensprout so close to him, but regardless, his body did feel pretty heavy, and judging by how his nose and throat were feeling, it seemed she was right on the money. “Ugh….So it seems….”
Shrapnel trudged over and lightly nudged him while whimpering. “He will allow you to rest on his back as we hike.” Zebota said.
“And I’ll make you some medicine in the meantime, ok?” Greensprout said.
Air Slash sniffled. “Th-That’s kind of you, but….<pant>….I think I’ll be alright.”
“Air Slash, don’t being so stubborn!” Greensprout said. “You’re no more pony than anypony else here, so don’t feel like you have to shirk your responsibility to take of yourself just because you look out for us, ok?”
Air Slash felt like his mother was scolding him, and his body felt like it was screaming at him too, so he conceded. “Very well…”
“Can’t y’all just heal him with yer Gaia Root thingamajig?” Kickback asked.
“I’m afraid not, Kickback. My Gaia Root can only heal life that it broken, but not ailing. I’d run the risk of encouraging the growth of whatever pathogens are afflicting him, and trying to sap them of life would not only be tedious and wrong, but I also risk draining Air Slash of his own life.” Greensprout explained.
“Well, shucks…” Kickback said.
“Let’s get his bedroll and sling it over Shrapnel so he’s not sleeping in splinters.” Spiral said.
Shrapnel growled at her, as if to feel offended by her comment about his back. “He says ‘I will have you know that I keep my backside as clean as a flowing river, mortal!’” Crazylocks blurted.
Spiral rolled her eyes. “Good boy….” As suggested, they took Air Slash’s bedroll and laid it onto Shrapnel’s back and secured it in such a way that he wouldn’t fall off while asleep. While still a tid reluctant, Air Slash hovered into his bedroll and went to sleep. Quantum Tech stored his swords in her mech for the time being.
“Oh! Quantum Tech? It’s probably gonna get cold up there. Is your mech gonna be okay?” Fire Fight asked.
Quantum smiled and fixed her glasses. “Not to worry, Fire Fight! After our altercation with that windigo, I augmented a thermal regulation system into my mech suit that heats and cools its internal temperature accordingly in response to the immediate environment. I should have no such complications in the future!”
Fire Fight nodded. “Good. Alright, let’s not waste any more time. Shrapnel, try to be gentle with Air Slash, and let’s all keep our eyes open in case of trouble- he’s vulnerable right now.” They all agreed and finally began their ascent towards their goal.