HyperBlitz sat inside his room, anger filling up inside of him. He wanted to get revenge on those Hybrids so badly. Or perhaps all he wanted was to take his anger out on something. While the rage never went away, a wave of depression fell over Hyper. His injury hurt, but there was something deep inside of him that hurt more.
The door opened and FeatherTune slipped inside. He held a bottle of water between his hoof and chest, and gripped a bag of raisins in his teeth. He laid them on Hyper’s bed.
“Raisins?” Hyper questioned.
“I dunno, they’re full of sugar. You need to keep your strength up. You did lose a lot of blood,” Feather shot at him.
Hyper only huffed.
Feather’s expression softened and he told him, “I’m so sorry Hyper. I wish I knew what we can do to make this right.” His friend did not respond, he only stared at the floor.
Feather left Hyper’s room and entered the main room. Blazing and Spinning were discussing what they had seen.
“It wasn’t even affected by any of our attacks!” Spinning said in shock.
“It has to have some sort of weakness. I’m sure Hyper’s attack would have worked if…” Blazing trailed off. His eyes met Feather’s.
“Rhythm’s shut in his room. I thought he’d call for a meeting but he seems just as upset as Hyper… minus the anger,” Feather reported.
“That’s understandable,” Spinning sighed. “He lost a leg not too long ago.”
“We can’t stand here waiting around for Rhythm’s approval. We should keep working on the camp. It’s best to keep ourselves busy anyway,” Blazing spoke.
The next day arrived. The air was still heavy with despair, no matter how normal the stallions tried to make things. CharmingRhythm had not slept very well that night, for he was worrying about HyperBlitz.
Rhythm pushed open the door adjacent to his. He studied Hyper who sat on his bed. The yellow stallion’s eyes stared into space, dark under his brow. He still had faint dirt and blood stains in his fur, which had not washed out all the way. The bandages were stained brown and red from the blood they had soaked up.
“Hey, Hype,” Rhythm spoke up, his voice cracking a bit. “You feel like eating anything?”
Hyper took a glance at Rhythm and shook his head.
“That’s alright. I’m not going to force you to eat anything,” Rhythm promised.
He understood exactly how Hyper was feeling. It was grief. While it was not death, it was something important lost. It was a part of who he was, gone. Rhythm remembered how empty he felt after losing his leg. Even after it was replaced, he was never the same. There was no way to go back to what once was, and prosthetics were nowhere near as welcoming than organic. Rhythm tried to conjure hope that Hyper’s original wing could be salvaged, but something inside told him it was a lost cause.
“I don’t even feel like working on anything…” Hyper mumbled.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to,” Rhythm assured.
“I’m useless now,” Hyper said, edge in his voice.
“What? What are you talking about?” Rhythm blurted out.
“I’m half a Pegasus. I can’t fly. I don’t even have the strength of an Earth Pony or the ability to grow plants,” Hyper spat.
“What? Just because you lost a wing doesn’t mean you aren’t a Pegasus. You still have your magic; the ability to walk on clouds and change weather.”
“And how useful is that, huh? Nobody touches the clouds anymore, or did you forget?” Hyper irritable told him.
Rhythm felt a pang of hurt in his heart. He tried to push though and said, “I promise we’ll get you a new wing.”
“I don’t want a new wing! I want my original wing!” Hyper replied, almost yelling. “We have to go to Los Pegasus! A doctor there can put it back on. Please, Rhythm, we have to go!”
Rhythm exhaled. “We will, but not today. Maybe tomorrow.”
“But- we have to go now!” Hyper argued.
“I want you to have your strength back-”
“I am strong!” Hyper snapped.
“I know… I’m sorry. I don’t feel up to it today. But I promise we’ll go tomorrow. I’ll go with you,” insisted Rhythm.
The yellow stallion did not reply. He took his sight off Rhythm. The Unicorn turned his tail and exited the room. He felt exhausted just from the argument alone. Mustering up enough courage, Rhythm called a meeting to the rest of his team, minus Hyper.
The stallions took their seats in the meeting room, their eyes locked onto their leader.
“Hyper wants to go to Los Pegasus to get his wing put back on,” Rhythm addressed them. “I’m going with him tomorrow.”
“Do you really think it’s possible?” Feather questioned. “Or, worth it, at least?”
“I don’t think so,” Rhythm said bleakly. “But we can only hope. If not, we’ll go to the prosthetics lab. But even then, Hyper’s wing will have to heal a bit before he can have a prosthetic put on. And he’ll have to get used to it…” His brown eyes focused on his own bionic limb, remembering the period of healing and readjusting.
“Are you two going alone?” Blazing asked.
Rhythm nodded. “I want you guys to stay here and work on the camp. I’ll pick up some supplies while in town. Please let me know what we need and I’ll do my best to get it.”
“There’s a lot we need,” Spinning mused aloud.
“I know. But essentials first. And I promised you a computer,” Rhythm said to the purple Unicorn.
After a pause, CharmingRhythm rubbed his eyes with his hooves. “Why did this have to happen? Hyper doesn’t deserve this.”
“Knowing him,” Blazing spoke, “I think he’ll make a quick recovery. Remember his past injuries? Or even when we first found him as a rogue? He pulled himself together so quickly.”
Rhythm recalled, several years ago, finding HyperBlitz out on a mission. He was a skinny rogue, fleeing from home. He had shown promise when fighting Hybrids, so the team took him in. He grew quite fond of the team, and synergized well with them. Soon enough, with the right care, he had become a strong, powerful stallion. Hyper was one of the best recruits and fighters Rhythm had ever seen. Blazing was right; Hyper would recover well.
“Alright. I think that’s it for now,” Rhythm drew the meeting to a close. “I want you guys to keep a lookout for Hybrids while we're out. Anything else before we finish?”
“We’ve already gone through a lot of our water,” Echo spoke up for the first time. “We’ll need to get more. It hasn’t rained at all since we’ve been here.”
“Take some water containers to the stream and bring them back here to filter. That’s the best we can do for now,” Rhythm concluded.
Rhythm pushed himself off the chair and gaited out of the meeting room. He wondered how he could distract himself for the rest of the day. He needed to keep his mind off Hyper as best he could. He decided he’d take the cab to the stream and begin filling up water containers. While in Los Pegasus, the rest of the team wouldn’t have access to the cab.
CharmingRhythm feared the reactions of friends and loved one when they found out what happened to HyperBlitz.