//------------------------------// // Chapter 31 // Story: Linkin Pony - Recharge: Revamped // by Kaciekk //------------------------------// A few days later Team Xero greeted the couple that Feather had interviewed, CherryBomb and AgileArrow, into the camp. Cherry seemed like the perfect pony for EchoBeat to work with; great with gardening and quiet. Aggie was a bit more outspoken and quickly made friends around the camp. Rhythm realized just how many ponies were here now. It was really starting to look like a real camp, at least population wise. Although the last pony Feather interviewed had not shown up yet, Rhythm wanted to call a camp meeting. The evening was winding down as the ponies started gathering. They stood in the clearing between the base building and the tent. Many, many pairs of eyes stared at Rhythm, which caused him to feel a little nervous. He’d never been the attention of this many ponies before. His team stood beside him in their own group. “Where’s Hyper?” EchoBeat wondered, gazing around. “I don’t know. I flew all over camp but couldn’t find him,” FeatherTune reported.  “Did you check inside buildings?” BlazingFlair suggested. “You really think Hyper’s gonna be inside a building all by himself?” Feather shot back. He had a point, Rhythm thought. Hyper was a very social pony, he liked being around others. That thought began to worry Rhythm. Hyper didn’t do good alone, and yet he was somewhere out there by himself. Was there something wrong that made him stay away from everyone else? “Hyper’s missing?” SpinningNote puffed. “Just like my camera. What a coincidence.” “Why would Hyper take your camera?” Echo asked. “And are you sure you didn’t just misplaced it?” Feather added. “I helped him look for it but it was nowhere in the base,” BlazingFlair defended before Spinning could speak. “We’ll have to start without him,” Rhythm decided.  The team and the crowd silenced as they listened to the blue Unicorn. “I promise I won’t keep you all long,” Rhythm spoke clearly without aid of his magic. “I want to thank all of you for coming here to this camp, and for all the work you’ve done so far. I appreciate all of you, and the Resistance appreciates your work too. I’m sure you’ll get rewarded for the work you do.” “How are we going to manage that?” Spinning whispered to Rhythm, leaning his head forward.  “We’ll figure it out,” Rhythm murmured hastily.  He returned to speaking to the crowd. “Remember to work together, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. This is a learning process for all of us.” “I don’t know why we’re here,” Blackout muttered. “It’s not like we’re recruits here to work!” “Well, we’re living in this camp now aren’t we?” Iridescent said to her brother. “We may as well help.” “Yeah right,” Blackout huffed. “Are we going to be getting better beds?” SunSwirl spoke up. “Yes. We’ll be working that out,”  Rhythm responded. “And that’s another thing. Everyone is to take turns retrieving supplies from Los Pegasus. As well as gathering water from the stream. I want everyone to pair up when they leave camp. Nobody is to go out alone.” Rhythm felt a little hypocritical saying that, knowing Hyper was on his own. “That’s it for now.  Oh, and keep an eye out for HyperBlitz,” Rhythm finished. “Which one is HyperBlitz again?” Cherry quietly asked Aggie. “The yellow one,” Aggie told her. “Oh, right.” The crowd dispersed and Rhythm turned to face his friends. “We need to find Hyper. I want him to go to Los Pegasus tomorrow.”  “I’m sure he’ll turn up eventually,” Blazing stated. “I know I just… I don’t want anything bad to happen to him,” Rhythm fret.  “He’ll be fine,” Feather assured. “He’s a tough pony.” “Yeah,” Rhythm said distantly, and began walking towards the base. A few kilometers into the sky, HyperBlitz sat on the rolling blanket of clouds. In his lap he carried Spinning’s camera which he snuck out with. In front of him was the sun setting below the clouds, with vibrant colors streaking the sky. He had always heard tales of how beautiful the sunset was, now he realized how true it was. Hyper took pictures with the camera, hoping to somehow give the sky to his friends.  As the evening sank into night, the temperature began to drop rapidly. Above the clouds there was no blanket for insulation. The crisp air chilled Hyper to his bones, and for once in his life he wished he was wearing clothes. He had to wait the cold out, for he wanted to continue taking photos. A waxing gibbous moon began to rise behind Hyper. He turned to face it and captured pictures of the moon and stars. The night left Hyper in as much awe as the day. When he had taken as much cold as he could possibly manage, he leapt back down into the world below. Warmth rushed over him as he descended. His eyes attempted to readjust to the darkness under the clouds. Above, the clouds had been illuminated by the moon, their rolling grey shapes easy to make out. Hyper let the lights from the camp guide him back. In the main room of the base, Rhythm overlooked Spinning trying something into his computer.  “I highly doubt I can get to the president. She probably gets enough messages as it is,” Spinning remarked. “Well, at least try. I want to warn her before sending Hyper to her…” Rhythm trailed off, still anxious of Hyper’s whereabouts. He began pacing around the room.  A few moments later, the door opened and light illuminated Hyper’s yellow fur. Both Rhythm and Spinning stopped what they were doing to glance over to the door.  “Hyper!” Rhythm exclaimed. “Where have you been?” “I knew he had my camera! Why did you leave without telling anyone?” Spinning pressed. “I knew you wouldn’t have let me take your camera if I just asked,” Hyper stated as Spinning’s magic levitated the camera off of his neck. “So you stole it?” Spinning snickered and brought the camera near him. “We were so worried about you!” Rhythm expressed. “Correction,” Spinning said, pointing a hoof to the other Unicorn. “Rhythm was so worried about you.” “Well, he disappeared for hours! Why wouldn’t I be worried?” Rhythm shot back. “It’s not like Hybrids got me,” Hyper remarked smugly. SpinningNote had turned on the camera and was flipping through the photos. He stared in awe at the ones Hyper had taken. Rhythm stepped next to him to observe them too. A vibrant sunset in the clouds, as well as the stars and moon in a clear sky. “Hyper, these are gorgeous,” Spinning gaped. “I wanted you guys to experience the sky too. Since you'll never be above the clouds. It looked better in person. The colors don't show up well on camera,” Hyper said. “They're still amazing. And you didn't break or drop the camera!” Spinning commented jokingly.  "That's very thoughtful of you, but you should have told us where you were going!” Rhythm harped. “I wanted it to be a surprise,” Hyper replied with a soft smile. Rhythm sighed and smiled himself. “Glad you’re back. I’ve got an assignment for you.” HyperBlitz flew over the desert with ThunderCharm following him. It was the next morning when the two Pegasi were heading to Los Pegasus. Hyper had to slow his pace considerably to match Thunder’s speed. She had mentioned she didn’t like flying long distances, but neither her or Hyper wanted to drive, so it was the only option.  CharmingRhythm had sent Hyper to Los Pegasus to speak to the president about rewarding their new camp workers. Thunder had come along to become recruited in the Resistance. After a twice as long flight to the city, Hyper led Thunder to the recruitment building.  “It’s normal to feel nervous,” Hyper was telling Thunder as an associate was filling out information for the young mare. He found out there that Thunder was seventeen, a prime age to start recruitment. “I know. I’m just worried about being around ponies I don’t know for a couple weeks,” Thunder said. “Hey, you didn’t know us to begin with, and everything turned out fine,” Hyper reassured her. “And it’s only gonna be a few weeks, you’ll be fine. It’s just basic self defense and learning about Hybrids. Then when you come back to camp we can help you learn other stuff.” “Alright. Sounds good,” Thunder replied, looking anxious but determined.  “Here.” Hyper picked out something from his saddlebag. He showed her a rectangular cassette player in his hoof. It was an old world relic, but it still worked marvously. “I put some of our songs on it. You can have it.” “Really?” Thunder’s eyes lit up. “Of course. When you get back we can see if we can get you a better music player than this old thing,” Hyper promised. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks.” Hyper waved a hoof goodbye and excited the recruitment building. He made his way towards the main building where he’d speak with the president. Inside, two ponies worked the desk, but neither of them were Heartfelt. I’ll check up on her when I’m done, Hyper thought. When he got to the president’s floor, he attempted to convince the guards to let him in. They told him she was busy, and that he couldn’t come in without an invitation. “We tried to let her know,” Hyper asserted as evenly as he could. “Tell her I work with CharmingRhythm, she’ll know who he is.” One of the guards slipped inside. He came back out and told Hyper, “Alright, you can come in. But you have to wait a few minutes while she finishes with another client.  Hyper accepted that and began pacing around the hall. He peeked at the door every couple of minutes to see if it would open. Soon enough, the pony inside left and Hyper was called in. Hyper saw the lavender Earth Pony sitting, staring at him as he entered. “You’re one of CharmingRhythm’s teammates?” Clarity asked. “Yes, ma’am. I’m HyperBlitz.” He knew that Rhythm had mentioned him to the president before. He wondered if she would recognize the name as the pony who lost the wing. However, even if he brandished the new wing on the side, Clarity didn’t take any notice. “Why are you here today?” She questioned. “And I hope you make this quick.” “Of course,” Hyper nodded. “We were just wondering how we’ll manage rewarding the ponies that work in our camp.” “You have recruits there now?” Clarity tilted her head. When Hyper nodden, she said, “We never sent any to your camp.” “I… I know. We recruited them ourselves. We didn’t want to have to wait on the council's decision, or even bother you for that matter.” Hyper tried to sound considerate, attempting to win over the mare.  “I see.” “You… won’t have to cut their pay out of my team’s, will you?” Hyper wondered hesitantly.” “No, I don’t think we will. If they are Resistance recruits, then they should be put in our system. They can report work done for a mission. All I need for you to do is retrieve their names, including their Resistance tags,” Clarity explained. “I would also like your team to review each individual's performance at the end of the assignment.” “Alright. Will do. Thank you so much, Miss President,” Hyper bowed his head graciously.  While trotting out of the room, Hyper felt a rush of relief. He was glad everything went over without trouble. Now he sought his way back to his old apartment. There, Heartfelt let him inside. “Hyper, it’s good to see you! What are you doing here?” Heartfelt greeted, looking a bit surprised. “I came to see how things are going. You good?” Hyper replied with a smile. “Yeah, just been looking after JumpingJolt and still working,” Heartfelt told him. “Wait, you don’t leave JumpingJolt alone when you're at work, do you?” Hyper asked. “No way. Ray comes over here and watches him while I’m working,” Heartfelt assured. “Oh. Good,” Hyper said, pleased. “I’ve been taking less hours at work anyway, since I’ve had to watch him.” “Oh. I’m sorry you had to do that,” Hyper lamented, feeling a bit bad for his friend. “No it’s alright. I don’t really like my job,” Heartfelt stated, gazing at their hooves. “Especially since Rhythm hasn’t been coming to report missions like he used to. We actually got to talk then.” The empathy in Hyper’s heart swole and he felt even worse. He could tell how much Heartfelt missed Rhythm, and understood that longing. He pulled Heartfelt in for a gentle hug. “I’m sure he’ll come visit next time he’s in town.” Heartfelt nodded with distant eyes. Then she said, “Come on, why don’t you spend some time with Jolt.” The mare led the way to one of the bedrooms. Lime green magic lifted up the orange colt from the crib and onto the play mat. He bagan stumbling towards Hyper excitedly. Hyper kneeled down to face JumpingJolt, who was speaking his own baby language. Only “dada” was recognizable, which made Hyper proud. He had been away for some time, but Jolt still remembered his dad.  “I can tell he’s missed both you and SweetHooves a lot,” Heartfelt remarked. “I’ve missed him too,” Hyper smirked. He tapped the tip of his muzzle onto Jolt’s. “Hope you’ve been good for auntie Heartfelt.” Hyper stood up and faced the Unicorn mare. “He hasn’t been too much to handle, has he?” “It’s not too bad,” Heartfelt shrugged. “Although I wish SweetHooves was here to teach me. It’s definitely been a learning experience; practice for when I have my own kid I guess.” “I’m sure you’ll make a great mother,” Hyper commented. “I hope so,” Heartfelt muttered, eyes still on JumpingJolt. She stepped forward to place him back in the crib. Hyper could tell there was a lot on her mind. Heartfelt was known for getting lost in thoughts, whether good or bad. She was probably worried about keeping up with work while looking after Jolt, as well as worrying about ponies she cared about. Hyper wished he knew a way to reassure her, but Rhythm was the only one who knew how to ease her mind. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long before they met up again. HyperBlitz gave Heartfelt another hug before heading back to camp.