HyperBlitz and CharmingRhythm made their way through the streets of Los Pegasus. The two of them stepped up to the door. Rhythm raised his leg to knock, only to realize he had no hoof to make a sound.
HyperBlitz leaned in and said “I can knock,” and proceeded to do so. He gave Rhythm a teasing stare the entire time.
Slate opened the door to the two younger stallions. He glanced down to Rhythm’s stub, and looked up again. “Where is your leg?” He asked with an unimpressed glare.
“It got crushed by a rock,” Rhythm smirked casually.
Slate only blinked at him a few times. He backed up to let Rhythm and Hyper inside. Twisting his head back, Slate called out, “Sapphire, we have company.”
A few moments later, Rhythm’s mother appeared out of the hallway. The blue mare too saw the scene and questioned, “What did you do?”
“My leg got crushed by a rock,” Rhythm reiterated.
“Rhythm!” Slate exclaimed. “You’ve had this leg for only two years and you already broke it?”
“Hey, don’t you get your leg replaced too?” Rhythm countered, still amused.
“I’ve only ever had my leg replaced because of an upgrade in technology. Not because I broke it.”
“Okay, sorry,” Rhythm stated while stifling a laugh.
“You find this funny?” Slate pressed.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Rhythm said, still grinning.
“I think it’s more than just a little bit,” Hyper added.
Slate rubbed his forehead. He muttered something that sounded like nonsense to the other ponies.
“What did he say?” Hyper whispered to Rhythm, who only hummed to the tune of ‘I don’t know.’
“Hey, I go on missions,” Rhythm defended. “This kind of stuff is bound to happen.”
“You should have been more careful,” Slate addressed.
“Aren’t you glad it wasn’t my other leg that got crushed?” Rhythm shot back. He then stood still, realizing what he just said.
“Yes,” Slate retorted as he tilted his head closer to Rhythm. “I don’t want you to know what a crushed leg feels like.”
“Sorry, Dad,” Rhythm murmured with ears pushed back.
Slate sighed and recomposed himself. “Do you have the leg with you?”
Rhythm twisted his neck to open his saddlebag. Levitating the broken leg out of his saddlebag, it floated over to his father. “I highly doubt you can fix it. Not sure if you can salvage any parts or not,” Rhythm said.
Slate just took the prosthetic in his own magic. He began walking towards the kitchen area, where he set the leg down on the table. Both he and Rhythm took seats.
“Well, we can make a new one,” Slate began. “Do you want me to create a new design, or are you alright with the original design?”
“I wouldn’t want you to go through the trouble of designing a completely new leg,” Rhythm spoke considerately.
“You know I would for you,” Slate told him with warmth in his voice.
“That’s very kind,” Rhythm replied appreciatively. “But if the old design works, then I see no reason to change it. Besides, I kinda want to get back to my mission ASAP.”
“Alright.” Slate nodded. After a moment, the grey stallion stood up and vanished into the hallway.
Sapphire stepped up to the table to speak to Rhythm. “So how has your mission been going? Besides this of course,” she asked and pointed to the leg with her muzzle.
“Uh, okay. I think we’ve made good progress, but we could always be doing better.”
“He’s too hard on himself,” Hyper remarked.
“He is,” Sapphire agreed. She then turned her full attention to the Pegasus. “Hyper, I’m sorry to hear about your wing. I haven’t been able to speak to you since everything happened. I just wanted to give you my condolences.”
“Oh, well, thank you,” Hyper replied, but shifted his gaze away. Rhythm used his left forehoof to pat Hyper’s back.
Returning from the hallway, Slate brought a poster tube with him. He opened it and placed blueprints down on the table, flattening them with his magic.
“Wait, you keep my leg’s design at home?” Rhythm pondered.
“Most of my clients’ designs I keep at work, but I keep your’s at home, to keep it safe,” Slate explained.
“Wow, thanks for making me feel special,” Rhythm mumbled, his eyes casted away.
“You are special,” Hyper teased.
“Shut up,” Rhythm muttered.
Slate smiled at their antics a bit. He then faced Hyper. “How’s the wing been treating you, Hyper?”
“It works, I guess.” He shrugged.
Slate dipped his head in understanding. “Sometimes that’s all that matters. It doesn’t hurt at all does it? Uncomfortable?”
“N-no. Just weird. I have to get used to it,” Hyper stated.
“That’s normal. It takes time,” Slate reassured.
When Hyper didn’t respond, Slate turned back to speak to his son. “It’s going to be a few days for your new leg to be made.”
“I know. I’m going to stay in the city to wait for it. I’m not very useful in camp when I'm stubby anyway,” Rhythm commented. “I should probably get going though. I want to spend time with Heartfelt.”
Rhythm sat up and skipped to the other side of the table. He gave Slate a hug to the best of his abilities with a half leg. “Thanks for your help, Dad.”
“Of course,” Slate let out.
“See you later, Mom,” Rhythm said. Sapphire too received an awkward hug from him.
“Rhythm,” Sapphire addressed as he pulled away. “I know you want to see Heartfelt, but could you please come back and spend some time with us too?”
“Oh, yeah, sure. I have plenty of time. I won’t be doing much while I’m here anyway.” Rhythm started walking in reverse, still facing his parents. “Love you guys. I promise I’ll be back!”
Attempting to swirl around, Rhythm began to stumble. Losing his balance, he tilted over. Quickly, Hyper stopped his fall with a shoulder. He pushed Rhythm back into place by extending his prosthetic wing.
“I’m fine!” Rhythm blurted out, regaining his posture.
Slate placed a hoof over his face while Sapphire just shook her head.
“Alright, we better head out,” Rhythm stated while trying to hide his embarrassment.
Once outside, Hyper told Rhythm, “You’ve got to be more careful. Did you forget you only have three legs right now?”
“I know, I know. It’s not like it’s the first time I’ve done that,” Rhythm admitted.
After a minute of no words, Hyper expressed,“Your parents are so sweet.”
“Heh, yeah.”
Hyper huffed. He seemed troubled.
“What’s wrong?” Rhythm wondered.
“They actually care. I wish I had parents like that,” Hyper lamented.
Rhythm knew Hyper’s family was a sore subject. “I’m sorry, buddy.”
“It’s alright. I found my own family.” Hyper turned to Rhythm, his eyes thoughtful. Rhythm knew he must have been talking about his team.
“Speaking of family,” Hyper went on a tangent. “I should check in with SweetHooves. Then I’ll probably fly back to camp. But I want to say ‘hi’ to Heartfelt first.”
Back at Rhythm’s old apartment, Heartfelt greeted them. She was so pleased to see the stallions that she didn’t notice Rhythm’s lack of a leg. Only when he started limping inside did she take notice. He told her exactly what he had told his parents.
“I’m assuming there’s a larger story behind this,” Heartfelt spoke.
“Eh, yeah,” Rhythm told her with a smile.
“He finds it a lot more amusing than he should,” Hyper commented while glaring at him. “You almost died!”
“And how many times have either of us almost died?” Rhythm pointed out.
“I swear, I’m going to actually die from worrying about you!” Hyper exclaimed, although without anger.
“You and me both, Hyper,” Heartfelt noted.
Hyper looked at Heartfelt, and after a moment’s pause he said, “It’s good to see you, Heartfelt.” He gave her a hug.
“Good to see you too. Hope you’re doing alright,” Heartfelt replied.
“Eh, I’m getting along.” Hyper shrugged. Copper eyes bounced between Heartfelt and Rhythm. “Maybe I should leave you two alone. I’ll see you later Heartfelt. And I’ll see you at camp,” He directed to Rhythm.
“Hyper,” Rhythm alerted as he was just about to leave. “When you get to camp, tell them I put you in charge.”
Hyper gave a pleased grin.
“Don’t abuse your power,” Rhythm said with raised brows.
“Oh, I won’t. I promised!” HyperBlitz acknowledged as he slipped out the door.
Rhythm smiled and returned to Heartfelt.
“So what actually happened?” Heartfelt asked.
“We were trying to collapse rocks onto a Hybrid camp and I kinda got caught in the middle of it,” Rhythm explained.
“Why were you there?!” Heartfelt demanded.
Rhythm sighed. “I was trying to get prisoners out of the camp. But hey, at least I didn’t lose any more legs.” He lifted up his stub.
“Geez, Rhythm,” Heartfelt muttered while shaking her head.
Just that moment, the door reopened from the outside. HyperBlitz dashed back to Rhythm’s side.
“Hyper, what are you-” Rhythm began.
“I forgot to give you a hug!” Hyper gave Rhythm a tight squeeze around the neck. The yellow Pegasus bounded back. “Alright, now I’ll see you later!”
The door closed, and Rhythm stood silent for a moment, perplexed. Shaking his head, he chuckled a bit. His eyes met Heartfelt’s eyes, which read the exact same ‘that just happened’ expression.
“Oh, I got a gift for you,” Rhythm brought up randomly.
“What? You didn’t have to get me anything…” Heartfelt started to protest.
“Nah, it’s okay. We found it in camp.” Rhythm levitated the necklace out of his saddlebag.
Heartfelt raised her hoof up where Rhythm displayed it. “A necklace? It’s beautiful.”
Rhythm telekinetically pulled apart the magnetic clasp and reattached it behind Heartfet’s neck. The pendant hung just above her chest. “Just like you,” Rhythm said with a smirk.
Heartfelt rolled her eyes, “Oh, please.” She took another look at the necklace. “It’s in such good condition.”
“We found it in a safe,” Rhythm remarked.
“Huh.” The Unicorn mare was quiet for a moment, her mind turning. “Actually, I have a gift for you too.”
Heartfelt swirled around and Rhythm took a few steps to follow her. She disappeared into the bedroom and reappeared, almost bumping into Rhythm. In her lime green magic was something made of fabric.
“I finally got around to making this, but,” Heartfelt stated, showing the sock, “It doesn’t look like it’s very useful right now.”
Eyes shafting down to his stub and the sock again, Rhythm let out a little laugh. “Here, let me see it.” Cyan magic took the sock. Rhythm slipped it on his half leg and began cuffing it several times. “There. Now it covers up my ugly stub,” he smiled.
Heartfelt shook her head in amusement. “You’re in a lot better of a mood than I expected. Given you’re missing a leg.”
“Hey, sometimes you just gotta joke about it.”
Heartfelt gave him a small gape.
“I mean yeah, when I first lost my leg, that was serious. But this is a fake leg. I can make fun of it if I want,” Rhythm justified, carefree.
After a sigh, Heartfelt tilted her muzzle up and kissed Rhythm. “I missed you.”
“Missed you too,” Rhythm returned.
There was another moment where Heartfelt thought of what she was going to say. “Actually, I’ve been in the beginning stages of packing. It’s a bit ahead of schedule, but I have to watch JumpingJolt for SweetHooves for a while.”
“So next time I come to town, I should go to SweetHooves place?” Rhythm questioned.
“Yep,” Heartfelt confirmed.
“Good to know. Although that makes me kinda sad. I won’t be able to come here and spend quality alone time with you,” Rhythm said with a small pout.
Placing her hoof on his chest, Heartfelt addressed with a smirk,“Well, I can give you all the cuddles you want while you're in town. You have to stay a few days, right?”
“Yeah. Not sure what I’m supposed to do all this time,” Rhythm pondered for a moment. “Maybe I could interview some recruits for my camp. Could you help me set up a request?”
“Of course. I can do that tomorrow when I go into work,” Heartfelt assured him.
“Sounds good.”
With a dip of his head, Rhythm placed his horn next to Heartfelt’s. While his head was still next to hers, Rhythm gave her another kiss. He was grateful to be back with his wife again. His thoughts had been chaotic, but presences alone could calm them. When he kissed her, all of his troubles seemed to melt away.
Rhythm would be missed in camp, but a break couldn’t hurt. A break with Heartfelt. That’s all he could ever ask for.