//------------------------------// // Chapter 43 // Story: Linkin Pony - Recharge: Revamped // by Kaciekk //------------------------------// It was still dark when HyperBlitz awoke the next morning. He couldn’t seem to close his eyes again to catch more sleep. Being back in the camp threw him for a loop, and it felt odd not having SweetHooves by his side anymore. The thought of his wife, her injury and trauma continued to jab at his mind.  Hyper decided he would wake up, for it was no use laying in bed. The dull blue glow from his wing’s crystal just barely lit his way through his room and into the hallway. The lights in the main room were already on. Someone was already up, so Hyper went to check out the meeting room. Inside, it was Rhythm who sat across the table. “Hyper. You’re up early,” Rhythm spoke when he heard hoofsteps. “I was about to say the same to you,” Hyper replied, and made his way around the table.  “What’s up? Can’t sleep?” Rhythm wondered. “Yeah. Just worried about SweetHooves is all. And you?” Hyper returned and sat down next to the Unicorn. Rhythm gave a long sigh. “I don’t know what to do to make Heartfelt happy. She’s been so down lately.” “Yeah, I kinda noticed when I was staying with them in Los Pegasus,” Hyper said. “Didn’t you say you got in a fight yesterday? You didn’t explain that.” “We did. It’s just that… one moment she’s depressed and the next she’s angry at me,” Rhythm expressed. “That’s irritability from depression,” Hyper justified. “I know. But she’s thinking so irrationally,” Rhythm countered. “And that’s her anxiety,” Hyper explained in a leveled tone. “I know, I know,” Rhythm replied, still frustrated. “I just hate seeing her so unhappy like this.” He paused for a moment. “Maybe I shouldn’t see everything from my perspective. I should consider her feelings too. Maybe we should live in the city, if that’s what she wants.” “She only wants to live there because that’s what she’s comfortable with,” Hyper said. “I mean, I want her to be happy.” Rhythm shrugged. “Being comfortable isn’t the same thing as happiness,” Hyper pointed out. Rhythm’s eyes widened a bit as he took that in.  Hyper continued, “Besides, I really don’t think the city would be right for Heartfelt. You’d both have to keep a job, or go on missions to pay for rent. That would take so much time away from raising a child. Plus, the city is so busy compared to a small community like this, and you know how lots of ponies can overwhelm her.” “Those are good points,” Rhythm considered. “I’d just have to explain that to her. But right now she doesn’t seem to want to listen to me when we talk about this.” “I think once she’s out of this episode, she’ll start thinking more clearly. You just have to be patient with her,” Hyper told him. “Yeah, I guess. I do want to spend more time with her though. I want to let her know I’m here for her, but I think she wants to go back home so she can take advantage of her days off.” “She can do that here with you too. Just convince her to stay another night. I think if you tell her you want to spend time with her she’ll understand,” Hyper assured. “I hope so,” Rhythm said, straightening his posture. “Thanks for talking it out with me.” “Of course,” Hyper grinned and dipped his head. “You know I’m here for you. Well, that is when I’m literally here.” He stood up again, but still faced Rhythm. “Is there anything you need me to do?”  “Actually,” Rhythm thought. “Can you go around the camp to see if everyone is doing alright? Just see if they are getting their work done as well as how they are doing personally. I don’t think I’ve done a good enough job making sure everyone in the camp is content.” Hyper determined that Rhythm’s eyes opened up to that after his argument with Heartfelt. “Yeah, sure. I can do that,” Hyper agreed. “Thanks, that means a lot. Especially since I want to take some time off working in the camp.” “Sure thing!” Hyper said, and waved his wing in farewell as he exited the meeting room. He went back to his bedroom to get ready for the day. First, Hyper headed into the gardening tent. There, Berry, EchoBeat and Terra were working. Sunswirl was there too, appearing to be testing growth potions on the plants. Hyper was surprised Echo did not try to intervene. He stepped up next to Terra to see how she was doing. He knew that she had been a bit intimidated by her fellow gardeners.  “You look like you're doing good,” Hyper commented, noting her patch of plants. “Oh, thank you,” She said bashfully. Next Hyper overlooked Berry and his plants. All seemed well, and Berry was not one to speak very often. “Hyper!” Echo called from the other side of the tent.  Hyper shot his head up. “What?” “Don’t step on the plants!” Hyper lift up a red hoof to see a smashed kale plant underneath it. He muttered, “for fucks sake,” then called out to Echo, “Sorry!” “Say that to Berry! It was his!” Echo shot back. “Sorry,” Hyper said to the pink stallion through gritted teeth. Berry only shrugged. Hyper was done with the gardening tent, so he reamurged outside. He saw Ash and Jet walking his way. Ash’s blue eyes lit up. “Hey, what’s up?” Hyper said. “You need anything?” “Actually we were wondering,” Ash began, “Would it be okay if we went on a mission outside of the camp? Like, grab one from Headquarters?” Hyper blinked. “I mean, I suppose so.” “She just wants to get out of the camp for a bit,” Jet stated. “Yes, I do,” Ash affirmed matter-of-fact-ly to Jet. To Hyper she said, “We won’t be gone for long. Just something to do besides busy work.” “It’s totally cool with me,” Hyper agreed. “You can ask Spinning if he can send a request to Headquarters for you.” “Great. Thanks Hyper!” Jet replied with a smile. He followed Ash who was already walking ahead. Hyper began trotting down the middle road. A few buildings down, he spotted CherryBomb waiting outside an open door. “Hey, Cherry. What are you up to?” Hyper spoke up. “Well, I’ve already been in the garden today, so I came out so I can spend some time with Aggie,” Cherry answered At that, Hyper’s ears flickered at the sound of clattering wood. He turned and saw AgileArrow walking towards them, with a table and two chairs cradled in her magic. Her vision was almost completely obscured and the furniture wobbled around awkwardly. With wide green eyes, Cherry met up with the Unicorn. “Oh no. Aggie, dear, please don’t carry so much at one. You don’t want to cause an accident.” “I’ve got this,” Aggie told her through a grin. She carried forward and one of the chairs collided with the wall, releasing it from her magic.  Cherry then used a hoof to stand the chair up straight. “At least let me help you with this. You can barely tell where you’re going.” Aggie sighed and gave in. “Alright.” She paused next to Cherry and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Aggie then continued forward with the table and one chair and made it into the apartment.  Cherry shook her head, but her face displayed amusement. “She’s always trying to take on more than she can handle.” Then the red mare entered the apartment next, pushing the second chair along. Hyper continued down the road. Hyper paused again and turned his head to the left. There he saw BlizzardBlast sitting between two buildings, working on an air conditioning unit. For a moment, Hyper watched them use both their hooves to maneuver a wrench. The young Pegasuse then stared up at Hyper. “So you’re a mechanic, huh?” Hyper said, impressed. “Oh, yeah. I know some things. My dad taught me when I was younger. At least he was useful for something,” Blizzard explained. “What do you mean?” Hyper questioned. “I thought you said you were an orphan?” “I may have lied about that,” Blizzard mumbled, their eyes dark under their brow. “But, essentially, I see myself as an orphan.” Hyper stepped forward into the alley. “Do… you miss your family at all?” He asked as delicately as he could. Blizzard sighed. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my family. I think it’s for the best. They didn’t really understand me. They didn’t respect who I am,” They clarified, glancing away from Hyper. “I completely get that, believe me. I was in that same situation once,” Hyper told them sincerely. Blizzard’s teal eyes finally met Hyper’s, gratitude in them.“Sounds like we got a lot in common, huh.” They took a quick glance down at their side where their prosthetic wing was folded. “I guess so,” Hyper replied, he too was looking at his own prosthetic wing. He returned his attention to Blizzard. “So you’re completely fine with staying here?” “Yeah, I’ve got nowhere else to go. The ponies are nice here,” Blizzard said. “Alright. Do you need anything right now? Any tools to help you?” Hyper offered. “No, I think I’m good, but thank you,” Blizzard assured. Hyper gave them a curt nod and then left the alley in search of the next pony. Near the end of the street, he found ThunderCharm pushing an empty supply cart from behind an apartment. Thunder stopped when she saw Hyper coming her way. “Need any help?” Hyper asked. “Oh, no,” She said simply. She turned the cart onto Hyper’s street and rolled it past him. As she became parallel with Hyper, he extended his prosthetic wing to tap Thunder to get her attention. “Hey. Are you doing alright? You know, since the Hybrid thing. You’re not still mad at Blazing, are you?” Hyper wondered. “No, I’m not,” Thunder responded. “I understand what he was trying to do. It wasn’t his fault, he was just trying to be a teacher. Hybrid hunting just isn’t for me.” “Do you still want to be a part of the Resistance?” Hyper questioned. Thunder’s aqua eyes stared at him with gleaming determination. “I want to help ponies however I can. I know now the best chance to do that is with the Resistance.”  Hyper nodded. “Good. But don’t think you’re getting out of your training exam.” “Oh, I know,” Thunder stated. She then continued past Hyper and rolled the cart away. Hyper made a turn north and entered into the next long street. There he found Carpenter rewiring a generator to an apartment’s electrical panel. Hyper decided that he seemed invested in his work, and there was no need bothering him, so he continued down the street.  Hyper finally neared the apartments closest to the base. He noticed the second to last on the street had a door that was slightly open. He recognized the building to be the apartment they had granted Iridescent and Blackout to stay in. Hyper stopped right before the crevice in the door, his ears alert. He could hear the siblings speaking inside, their voices irate. He could not make out what each one was saying, only that they were upset at each other. After a few moments, Hyper could hear thudding hoofsteps nearing the door. He quickly lept back as the door swung open. It almost slammed against his muzzle. Blackout was marching away, unaware of Hyper behind him. Iridescent quickly ran out the door, attempting to catch up with her brother. Blackout opened his wings and took to the air, flying towards the west. Iridescent called his name out one last time, but the Pegasus was long gone. She swirled around, her tail drooping. Her eyes met Hyper, who stared in shock. “Oh, hey Hyper.” “Is everything alright?” Hyper asked with concern. “Just another disagreement. Blackout doesn’t want to live here anymore. But I told him we have nowhere else to go. He just doesn’t want to associate with the Resistance,” Iridescent explained. “Do you want me to follow him? I can catch up,” Hyper offered, stretching out his wings. “No, no. You don’t have to do that. I’m sure he’ll come back. He’d never abandon me,” Iridescent assured. Her gaze grew distant. Hyper gathered courage to ask what he’d been meaning to. “Why does he hate us so much? Is it just because you were taught to hate the Resistance?” “Not exactly…” Iridescent said, lost in her thoughts. “So you’re saying you weren't raised to despise the Resistance?” Hyper inquired. “Most ponies in our camp were raised that way, yes, but not Blackout and me,” Iridescent claimed. “What do you mean?” Hyper wondered, confused. Iridescent took a deep breath before continuing. “You see, our mother was part of the Resistance,” she stated, and Hyper stared at her wide-eyed. “Talk about a forbidden love between our parents. They somehow made it work… for a while. Mom would hide any evidence she was from the Resistance when she came to the camp. She even stayed there a couple years.  “But she still did missions on the side. One day she went off on a mission and… she never came back. Of course we didn’t get any confirmation about what happened. We had to do some digging and interrogating ponies at the Resistance to figure it out.” Iridescent paused for a moment, waiting for Hyper to respond. “And what was it?” Hyper asked. “She… died, of course. Died on a mission,” Iridescent clarified grimly. There was sadness in her eyes. “I’m so sorry…” Hyper wasn’t sure what to say. “Ever since then, Blackout has hated the Resistance. He hates them for sending Mom on that mission. He blames them for her death, even if it was Mom’s choice to go. She loved us, but also loved being in the Resistance. Dad’s been distant ever since Mom died. Blackout and I had to raise ourselves,” Iridescent explained. “And what about you? You don’t hate us?” Hyper questioned her more. “If Mom was part of the Resistance, then I believe there are other good ponies in it too,” she finalized with new confidence. That was the answer Hyper had been waiting for Iridescent to state. “Glad you feel that way,” Hyper told her. “We’re here to help ponies however we can.” Hyper knew there was no way to convince the siblings to stay with the Resistance, but he was pleased to know Iridescent was willing to give them a chance. If only the same could be said for Blackout. The life of the Resistance wasn’t for everyone, Hyper understood that. Still, he believed being a part of it was the best way to contribute good to Equestria. That’s what they were trying to do while building this camp. Hyper was glad he came back. He wanted to make this camp as strong as it could possibly be.