//------------------------------//
// Chapter VIII 
// Story: Linkin Pony Recharge: The Catalyst 
// by Kaciekk 
//------------------------------//

	Static buzzed, released from the stiffness, corresponding with the  wide eyes that sought helpful information. The olive Unicorn settled on the floor of the atrium, the ponies offered him a seat in the meeting room, but he denied. All were excited to see SparkWire, and fascinated by his hoof- cover. Questions aimed at him like lightning and the earth.
"Where have you been living?" BlazingFlair said
"What is that thing?" SpinningNote pointed to SparkWire's hoof-cover. "Is that a crustal from underground?"
"Are there more ponies?" Blazing begged.
"Have you killed any Hybrids?" HyperBlitz asked, cocky.
"Everypony shut the hell up!" CharmingRhythm rasped. He leaned towards SparkWire. "I'm sorry about them."
"It's quite alright," SparkWire smiled. "You must be the one that needs a new limb."
"Hmm? No, I-I'm fine. This leg is nothing. It doesn't bother me," Rhythm lied.
"Really?" SparkWire twisted his neck. " Do you recon you can run at normal speed without fault?"
"I-"
"No," Spinning poked his head in. "Hyper needs a wing too."
"A wing isn't as important as a leg," Hyper shook his head.
"Though it should be important to carry pure energy," SparkWire stated.
"Pure energy? Is that what that blue stuff is?" Blazing questioned.
"Yes it is. Your friends said it was by your base; the reason this one lost his leg.I need to show you how to secure energy."
"You should make the limbs first," FeatherTune said.
"I would, but I need energy crystals. And would you want a chance that a part of this base explodes from unstable energy?" SparkWire implied. Feather gaped at him
"I need some metal, do you have some?"
"There's plenty in the back," Hyper informed.
"Mind collecting some? And show me your energy source."


 --- 


The ponies had gone to the cave. They brought many pieces of metal and even found some from the long-gone Hybrids. SparkWire studied the glowing ground. "Extraordinary."
EchoBeat stepped to his side and saw the energy too. "Metal isn't effected by pure energy, it was the only thing left of the Hybrids. You're going to use it to hold the energy in place, aren't you?"
"Indeed. But I need your assistance, and of course I can't do everything by myself." SparkWire spun around. His olive hooves clopped across the rocky floor, the tapping of the hoof-cover breaking the pattern: clop, clop, clank, clop. 
He seemed to only wander. The Linkin Ponies stood there, waiting. The olive Unicorn came to a rock, and he pushed it over with his forehooves. When he was done, SparkWire patted his tattered vest. His eyes darted to the other ponies.
"Would you take some boulders and circle them round the energy spots? Though be careful."
BlazingFlair bounced and found a boulder. He shoved it with his shoulder and in tilted. The rock skidded on a slope of the cave floor. FeatherTune panicked and leaped into the air above the stone. His eyes beamed to the orange Earth-pony with annoyance. Blazing shrugged and gave a face that said 'sorry'.
SpinningNote's indigo aura picked up some stones and placed them in a curved wall. SparkWire spoke to him, "Save your magic." As the scientist walked away, Spinning gave a scolded reaction. He then kicked some foal-sized stones on the floor. 
By another energy spot, Hyper shoved a rock to the left of one Echo had placed. Echo studied the finished circle. He wasn't sure how much they really needed. "It's like a fire-pit," Hyper stated at random.
"Alright, that should be enough for a demonstration," SparkWire announced. The ponies halted.
"What now?" Feather muttered.
A rich green spark appeared, and it picked up a metal plate. SparkWire slid the sheet between a rock, and the energy spot. His magic bent the metal slightly, and secured it in the earth. He repeated this with varied shapes of metal. SparkWire completed the bulwark with a proud stance. The Unicorn's face shifted again, the blue glow outlining his pale mane.
"We must do the same for the ceiling. It will create a stable energy well." His green magic lifted up a slab of metal to the ceiling. "I shall need a Pegasus for assistance."
FeatherTune leaped into the air towards the floating piece. Hyper watched with hurt in his brown gaze. Feather put his hooves on the metal while hovering. He held it and it tapped the ceiling. A quick flash of magic push the metal and bent it. Another piece came towards Feather.
"Why do I have to help,? You seem like you can do this by yourself!" The cream Pegasus complained.
"Do you want the metal to fling across the room as I use my spark, an maybe the metal will bash into somepony's head?" SparkWire smirked.
Feather snorted and took his attention to the metal again. CharmingRhythm pulled himself forward. His eyes narrowed to the ceiling as Feather helped complete a circle. SparkWire gestured his hoof to Rhythm, telling him to back away. The grayish-blue Unicorn stood by Echo and they both looked upwards. SparkWire's shimmering magic swirled around the energy spot. The blue glow raised to the first wall they made on the floor. Then suddenly, with a flash, the blue skyrocketed to the ceiling. All of the ponies jumped when the light hit their faces. The energy was now a thick laser, waving between the ceiling and floor.
"Whoa," BlazingFlair gasped.
"That should be stable," SparkWire thought aloud.
Rhythm came back towards him. "I can hold the metal with my magic as you use yours to put it in place. And maybe SpinningNote can help."
SparkWire gave a glare at him.
"Just because I'm missing a leg doesn't mean I can't use magic."
The olive-green stallion's face lightened, and he spoke, "I know that. Holding metal should be easy for you, but using the spark requires more magic."
Spinning bounced to his side with his mane's tail shifting. "Would you show me your spells? The spark, then how to raise the energy. I think it might take a while to complete each energy spot."
"Very well. Come, I'll show you." SparkWire nodded and moved to the next destination.
HypeBlitz dragged his tattooed hooves across the rocky terrain. Blazing trotted next to him. Hyper grumbled, and his eyes showed loath. 
"What's wrong?" Blazing asked.
Hyper sighed, "It's just that... well, I could be helpful if I had my other wing. I'm useless right now."
"No you're not." Blazing nudged him with his shoulder. "You're helping. You brought some rocks and metal."
"Yeah, but I could be airborne. I could bring metal to the ceiling. Right now I'm useless as an Earth-pony."
BlazingFlair's green eyes flashed and became hateful. He lowered his face and bared his teeth.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Hyper rasped with a loud voice. "I'm sorry! I meant... It came out wrong! I mean... like, useful!!! Useful!"
"Stop arguing and get your lazy asses over here!" Spinning called out.
Both Hyper and Blazing trotted. Hyper shook his stiff legs and he walked by the orange pony. He turned his head to him with a low gaze. "Blaze, I didn't mean it like that. It came out wrong. I really was saying... well... That right now that I am only as useful as a Earth-pony, because I can't fly. It's not what I'm use to. And I bet that I'm not even as useful as a Earth-pony, because I guess I wouldn't be as skilled with ground activities-"
"It's okay," Blazing told him with a warm expression. Hyper just slugged down. "C'mon," Blazing bumped him in the shoulder.
"OW!"
Blazing jumped as the yellow pony shriveled away, and he noticed he accidentally hit him on his wing stub. "I'm sorry!"
"It's fine," Hyper grumbled. "It's what I get."
Blazing wanted to reply against that statement, but the look on Hyper argued. The two stallions remained silent and gathered with some of the other ponies who watched SparkWire.
EchoBeat went over to another energy spot that was not covered. He decided that instead of waiting he could make use of his time by working on some of the ground walls. The red pony shoved some boulders, stabbed some metal poles into the ground, and straitened the pieces up. He was careful with not getting to close to the blue energy. Echo's forehooves were planted on a boulder, he quickly slipped down, near an exposed spot. He jumped, what seemed like five feet into the air, and went back with fear in his eyes.  Echo did not want to end up like Rhythm.
Over by the currant energy spot, four of the ponies worked. FeatherTune held a metal sheet in place as CharmingRhythm did the same with his light blue magic. Rapidly, one after another, SparkWire's magic flashed a plate so it stayed on the ceiling, then SpinningNote did the same with his magic. As they completed it, Feather's wings carried him to a float and is legs and head slugged down with irritability.
Rhythm limped over to another energy spot that needed to be set up. His blue hooves closed in a tight stance, and he kept himself on the flat ground before a dip in the hard soil. Little work would have to be done to this energy spot; almost half of the ground came around it with sketchy rocks on the slope. Rhythm stared at the spot, his gaze mixed with fear and resentment. There was a dull, dark stain on the rough floor, and from the glow of the blue light it turned violet. 
BlazingFlair came and stood next to the Unicorn. The orange stallion looked confused at Rhythm, then the energy spot, and repeated. There was a deep glare in Rhythm's eyes, he stiffened as if he needed to speak. He bared many moments before he did. He finally let out a forced, harsh growl:
"Hellhole."
Then he flipped and trotted away from BlazingFlair. Blazing jumped, and quickly turned his head. He shot a disturbed glance at EchoBeat. The red pony looked at him for a moment, his eyes shifted to Rhythm slightly, then back, and he shrugged.
The ponies finished a few more energy spots. SpinningNote was assisting SparkWire with lifting the energy. The first time he did it, the laser wobbled, and all the ponies feared that something would go wrong. Now Spinning kept a steady movement, and as sweat rolled down his cheeks the magic flashed the energy in its place.
"That should be enough for now," SparkWire smugly announced. "You all know how to do this, and you could easily get the other energy spots done. Why don't we go back in your base. I'd happily look towards making some mechanical limbs."