The clouds in the sky were thinner than usual, letting more shafts of sunlight down on the land. It had been four days since CharmingRhythm left for Los Pegasus. HyperBlitz kept up with all of the ponies and made sure they were doing alright. He really was not sure how to run the camp or assign duties. Even so, ponies found their own tasks to do without direction.
Hyper eyed ThunderCharm who had snuck out of her apartment. She had fear in her eyes and her head hung low. Hyper raced over to meet her.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asked.
“Blackout and Iri keep arguing,” Thunder murmured.
“Why?”
“Blackout wants to go back to his camp, but Iridescent doesn’t,” Thunder disclosed. “I mean, I don’t want to either. They held me prisoner!”
“I understand,” Hyper told her. He could tell their argument must have startled Thunder badly.
Hyper resumed trotting and entered the building. There the siblings were bickering. Blackout caught sight of the outsider and bared his teeth.
“Keep out of this! This has nothing to do with you!”
“Hey, I just want to keep peace in this camp,” Hyper asserted
“And why is it always up to you?” Blackout growled.
“Because I was put in charge. Why the fuck are you acting so rude to your sister?” Hyper inquired.
“She’s becoming a Resistance sympathizer,” Blackout spat
“No I’m not! You know I don’t have the same beliefs as them!” Iridescent defended.
“Then why do you want to abandon our gang?”
“Because I don’t want to be taken prisoner and punished!” Iridescent replied, her voice shrill.
‘We should have never left to begin with,” Blackout muttered as he shook his head, his black hair following.
“You know we had to! We couldn’t let them keep Thunder. And you know that!” Iridescent shot back.
Blackout snorted. “I don’t even know why I try. There’s no convincing you.” He pressed forward, bumping into Hyper on his way out.
“Hey,” Hyper called to Blackout, stepping outside. “You can talk shit to me all you want, but there’s no reason to speak to your sister like that.”
“I told you to stay out of this.” Blackout snapped. “For Celestia’s sake, why do all of you Resistance get into other ponies business?”
“Because we want to help ponies,” Hyper responded.
“Yeah, helping ponies by wasting your energy on Hybrids?” Blackout retorted mockingly.
“At least we're actually fighting the Hybrids! Rogues only fight them when they get too close,” Hyper rebutted.
“That’s how it should be!”
“I agree,” Iridescent spoke. “We shouldn’t be fighting Hybrids anyway. We’re killing ponies.”
“Listen, I completely understand where you’re coming from.” Hyper turned to Iridescent. He now spoke in a softer tone. “Hybrids were ponies, but there’s no way to reverse it. The Resistance has the most advanced technology, and we still haven’t found a cure to Hybrids. So until we do, we have to keep fighting back.”
“Please, you all boast about your technology all the time,” Blackout rolled his eyes.
SpinningNote entered the conversation, intrigued by the commotion. “Technology that you rogues steal from us. You wonder why you got your name, and continue to attack and raid us.”
“At least we don’t waste that technology,” Blackout attempted to defend.
“Can’t you understand that the Resistance are the only ponies trying to make the world a better place?” Hyper exclaimed, his volume increased.
“Maybe I will once you stay out of everyone’s business! You always think you’re right!” Blackout shouted. His wings were stretched out and his posture opposing.
“Could we please stop arguing. We’re obviously getting nowhere,” Spinning said, rubbing his face with an indigo hoof.
Blackout, as frustrated as ever, stomped away. He flicked his black and red tail as he entered into one of the streets. The rest of the ponies stood there silently, unnerved from the clash. Hyper saw that ThunderCharm had been watching too. He shifted over to her.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought it outside,” He tried to comfort her distressed expression.
The young mare shook her head, and returned to the apartment.
Back in Los Pegasus, CharmingRhythm just had new leg fitted. Now in the entrance hall of the main building, he waited for Heartfelt to finish with a client at the front desk. The pony she was talking with eyed Rhythm, who was impatiently walking in place. He stopped when he met eyes with the pony, a bit embarrassed. Heartfelt noticed the pony glancing over her shoulder, and turned around.
“Oh, that’s my husband,” She explained to the pony with a smile.
As the pony finished at the desk and left, Rhythm briskly gaited to Heartfelt. He enthusiastically threw his forelegs on the desk with a wide grin.
“I see! You got your new leg!” Heartfelt tapped on his foreleg. “It’s nice and shiny too.”
“I know! It feels so good to have a leg again,” Rhythm replied, still beaming.
“Rhythm. I know you’re eager to get back to your camp, but you know what I’m going to ask you.” Heartfelt raised her brows and tilted her head a bit.
Her eyes enticed him, and told him without words to stay another night. “Hmm,” Rhythm held back a groan with a tight mouth. Raising is head up he let out, “Fine! But I have to leave first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks, babe,” Heartfelt said with a warm smile.
She gave him a kiss on the tip of his nose. Rhythm leapt off the desk and trotted around it. While heading to the doors, he twisted his neck back.
“I’ll see you when you get off work!” He called. “Then we can really test out that sock!”
Heartfelt giggled a bit and returned to her deskwork.
The next morning, Rhythm arrived in the camp, bringing more supplies back with him. He was glad to see they were keeping up with their work. FeatherTune was fluttering above, carrying a toolbox, which he sat down on a roof.
“Rhythm! Welcome back!” FeatherTune greeted. He swooped down and gave Rhythm a hug.
“Thanks dude,” Rhythm smiled.
“You got a new leg!” Feather noted. “It looks the same as the other one…” He stared at it as if he was expecting something more exciting.
“I didn’t feel like bothering my dad to design a completely new one,” Rhythm clarified casually.
“Hmm, alright.” Feather shrugged.
Rhythm proceeded to find HyperBlitz. The yellow Pegasus was flying above. Rhythm called out to him. Hyper’s ears flicked and his face lit up at the sound of his voice. Hyper too flew into a hug with Rhythm, but with more force than Feather. He almost knocked Rhythm off his hooves.
“You’re back! I missed you!” Hyper spoke through a grin. He let the Unicorn go.
“Hey, hey! It was just a few days!” Rhythm responded.
“Yeah, I know. But I still missed you,” Hyper said.
“So how did things go while I was gone?” Rhythm questioned.
“Uh, fine. Except a lot of arguing with the newcomers. And when I say newcomers I mean Blackout,” Hyper said blandly.
“Huh. Kinda expected that,” Rhythm replied, nodding his head. “I’m gonna go meet up with the others.” Rhythm patted Hyper’s back as he passed by him.
HyperBlitz made another round in the camp, checking up on ponies. He stumbled upon Jet and Blackout, who appeared to be arguing. He asked what was going on.
“He says he can fly faster than me!” Blackout spat.
Hyper was confused for a moment. That was actually something Blackout was upset over?
“How do you think I got my name? I’m the fastest Pegsus around!” Jet boasted.
“Now hold on,” Hyper began. “Are you so sure of that? Last I checked, I was the fastest flier in the south west.” Hyper claimed with a smirk.
“Huh?” Jet let out.
“Seriously? With that wing?” Blackout snickered. “No way you’re as fast as either of us.”
Hyper took that insult to heart. Of course, he wasn't sure if he was as fast as he once was with his new wing. But he wouldn’t let these young stallions overthrow his title without a fight.
“You wanna bet?” Hyper cocked his head.
“Let’s race!” Jet exclaimed. “Then we can settle it once and for all!”
“Sounds good to me,” Hyper agreed.
“You’re on,” Blackout joined with a challenging expression
All the ponies in camp gather at the west outskirts of the village. The three Pegasi lined up, with space in between them wide enough for their wingspans. BlazingFlair stepped up in front of them to define the rules.
“The race is between here, the ocean, and back! You’re all required to bring a water bottle and collect water from the ocean. This is to prove you actually made it there. No cheating! You cannot bump into another racer or block his path. You must keep your distance. Do you understand?”
“Yes!” The three Pegasi responded. Each one of them had a water bottle strapped to a foreleg.
“On “go”, you will go!” Blazing announced, and took his place behind the Pegasi. “Three. Two. One. Go!”
Jet took a powerful leap into the air. Blackout ascended with rapid bursts of wing beats. Hyper was last to take flight, taking off with a running start. Once they were all in the air, they soared at similar paces.
The ground shrank below Hyper as he rose higher into the sky. They passed the stream and train tracks, and made their way over the open desert. Below, Hyper is noticed as a small Hybrid outpost. There was a node along with a shake and some other machinery. It was much farther from the camp than the previous nodes they had dealt with. Hyper wondered if they should address it at a later date.
The outpost was far behind them now. Hyper focused his eyes on the horizon. The dark outline of the ocean came into view. Hyper began angling himself downward, knowing he’d have to reach the water. Even though he came close to the ground, he almost forgot to slow down; he’d have to turn around. Extending his foreleg, he scooped up water in the bottle as he passed over the shoreline. Quickly, with his other hoof, he snapped the bottle shut.
A column of air created by the ocean pushed Hyper over the ocean and let him swivel around with ease. Ahead of him, Jet and Blackout had already spun around and taken lead. While above them, Hyper took note of their wing structures. Both were similar to his natural wing shape, but with a few differences. Jet’s striped wings were thinner, good for taking advantage of high wind speeds. Blackout’s were broader, built for soaring across uneven air currents. Hyper was determined to not be defeated because he possessed two different wing shapes.
Using the wind blowing in from the ocean, Hyper continued to elevate himself. The two other Pegasi were gaining distance, but not for long. Once he felt he was high enough, Hyper angled himself downward. He gave a few strong wing beats for extra thrust. Gravity aided in his rapid descent, causing him to overtake the two other Pegasi. Hyper didn’t even dare look back at them.
Don’t flap your wing; glide. Keep your wings almost straight, with the slightest angle to keep up lift. Tuck in your forelegs. Keep your back legs straight and connected. Ears pushed back. Don’t turn your head. Only when your flight begins to decrease, then you may use your wings for thrust.
The camp came back into sight, ponies watching below. Hyper didn’t slow down to land, he didn’t want to give the others a chance to catch up. Instead, he sped right over the camp. The sounds of his friends cheering mixed with the rushing wind. Tilting his wings, Hyper took a wide turn to circle around the camp and slow his descent. Blackout and Jet were already on the ground as Hyper aimed to land.
He miscalculated his landing speed. As usual. His hooves skidded across the desert soil, and the water bottle strapped to his leg bumped across the ground. Stumbling, he hit his chin against the dirt.
“Hyper!” Blazing called out and galloped over to him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah… I'm good. Fuck..” Hyper sat up straight. Blood dripped from his chin. He used a foreleg to wipe it off.
“You won!” Blazing declared.
“Guess you still are the fastest!” Feather exclaimed. “I wasn’t expecting that. I mean... With your wing and all.”
“Honestly, neither was I. Glad I know now!” Hyper’s eyes gleamed with vitality. He stood up and faced the group of ponies.
“Well, that was something to come back to,'' Rhythm remarked.
“I can't believe I came in last!” Blackout fussed.
“Hey, you put up a fair fight,” Hyper told him. "But I will say, you call your wings too much."
“What?” Blackout shot.
“Fast flying is all about technique. I can teach you if you like,” Hyper offered.
“Teach me? I-” Blackout thought about it for a second. “I don’t know. I mean, how can I trust you?” He casted his eyes away.
Hyper could tell it wasn’t a complete refusal. He realized that maybe some friendly competition was exactly what Blackout needed to warm up to these ponies. He did play fair after all, which was more than Hyper could hope for.