//------------------------------// // Chapter VIII: Mending and Breaking // Story: Linkin Pony Recharge: Chasing the Sun // by Kaciekk //------------------------------// Early afternoon spread across the North Hills camp. I sat on the ground with a sketchpad and pencil in my mouth. I often muse how much better my art would look if I used magic. Two times better? Five times? Bang. Bang. Bang. My ears fluttered as a hammer clanged against a nail. I looked over to the construction, not exactly able to identify what the teal stallion was trying to accomplish. There was always construction in the camp. “Hey, keep it down!” HyperBlitz shouted from a picnic table. “You keep it down!” The stallion waved the hammer strapped to his hoof. HyperBlitz gaped with offense. Then his mouth broke into a grin. “Heh. The only volume button on me is up.” His hoof rose, pointing to the sky. The Pegasus and some others went on with stories about the past. They chatted about travels and even before the camp. There were so many stories repeated and some sounded different every time. By now I can practically imagine how my father lived before I was born. HyperBlitz was going on with some tale about one of the many times he hurt himself. He is always so clumsy, on occasion, he fails to land correctly. I wonder how many times Hyper has gotten injured. I asked him just this question. The stallion stared at me for a second, blinking. “Ah-” He glanced up and put his hoof behind his neck. “Well, um,” Hyper idled, not knowing where to start. “Well, I broke his wrist,” he showed his right foreleg, “That was during a concert. I had both arms in casts at one point, that was before that.” He lifted his hind leg. “I broke this ankle.” “You tripped on that one,” SpinningNote added, smirking. “Shh! I’m the one talking,” Hyper snapped, although I believe that was more of an excuse so he wouldn’t be embarrassed. “Oh,” Hyper squinted his eyes. “I pulled my ankle getting caught on a stair in concert.” “You almost got burned by the pyrotechnics in concert too,” Spinning commented once more. This time Hyper smiled. “Heh… Burn It Down.” His eyes slipped back to me. “I’m sure I’ve sprained everything a couple of times. I’ve pulled this wing, the muscle,” He showed his right wing, the mechanical one, and pointed to the base. “I’ve pulled that several times. I also got it ripped off but that was a Hybrid, not self injury. “I’ve injured my back carrying luggage. I cut a hole in my cheek playing tennis.” I gaped with huge eyes as he listed his injuries. SpinningNote’s eyes became flat. “With all that plus getting sick all the time, I have no idea how you are still alive.” HyperBlitz shrugged for Spinning and spoke for me “Yeah, that’s pretty much what I can remember now, I’m sure there’s a bunch more.” “Wow,” I said, all of that collecting into my brain. A shape in the corner of my vision caught my attention. A tan pegasus descended from the sky. Hooves handed on the ground and skipped a bit before coming to a complete halt. The stallion puffed out his chest as he took in air. “Sup, Jet,” Hyper greeted. Jet saluted the older Pegasus instead of wasting his air on words. He found a seat at the table to rest and straightened in black bangs. He must have flown for a long time to be this exhausted. “So what do you got?” HyperBlitz leaned forward to Jet, giving him his full attention. Jet twisted his body, his back against the table and his elbows on it. “Okay,” Jet said after being situated, “So like, you know how we get reports online, from other ponies. Some of us go to different places, different camps. I was at other camps too” The way he spoke annoyed me, he was not getting to the point. “They said the exact same thing as reports. There are like, rogues. They have a camp and are bothering ponies in Haythorn.” The name of Haythorn struck a spot in my chamber of memories. It was a town I lived in for a while. I do not believe I had any memories of actually being there, I only knew that I was there. My mother left me there with some ponies, only for she was traveling alone and though she was a bad mother(which is completely wrong). “Did you go to Haythorn?” HyperBlitz asked. “Ah, no.” Jet shook his head. “I promised Ash I wouldn't be gone for more than a day.” Hyper smirked with a slight shake of the head. “What?” Jet puzzled. “Heh.” Hyper crossed his forelegs “You let Ash have too much control. You can’t have her making all of the decisions. You are your own pony.” “I know,” Jet admitted. “ But you need to have trust in a relationship.” “I understand,” Hyper said looking at the younger Pegasus with empathy in his eyes and voice. “So,” SpinningNote joined the conversation, “Should we send someone to Haythorn to help them? We help ponies.” “Yes,” HyperBlitz stated, “But the Resistance was made to fight off Hybrids.” “And to restore the resources of the world,” SpinningNote included. “We know that rogues like to take and hoard resources.” “Hmm, especially when they are territorial, they guard rivers and land,” Hyper said. “Most of the time they invade towns to take food and supplies.” Hyper looked to Jet. “Do you know why the rogues are messing with Haythorn?” The tan stallion rubbed the back of his black mane. “No, I didn’t get any information on that.” “Jet!” A low female voice called from the side. A red maned Unicorn trotted up to Jet and placed her muzzle under his chin. “I saw you fly in. But you didn’t come to me first?” “I-” The younger Pegasus was interrupted by HyperBlitz “Hey! Give him a break. You’re always on his back." Ash lowered her brow and glared at Hyper. “Excuse me. This has nothing to do with you.” “I’m trying to help him.” “Help him?” Jet put his forelegs to his side and slumped down. “Shit.” “What’s he talking about, Jet?” “He-” Again, Jet was cut off. “You are too controlling. Sometimes that’s good, to be caring, to show you care about your partner, but that doesn’t mean that you have to know his every move.” “I do not-” “You do. You want things your way. You need to give him space.” Jet groaned. “HyperBlitz, I think I can-” “No, Jet, you don’t get it. You need to be happy in a relationship.” “Are you saying he’s not happy with me?” Ash inquired bitterly. Hyper exhaled. “Ash, you have to understand that you can be controlling.” He paused, but the grey mare didn’t break into his speech. “You need to not just think about what you want, but what he wants.” Ash looked to the other Pegasus. “Do you think I’m controlling?” “I,” Jet was uneasy. “I think you can be… sometimes. But more recently, not the whole time we’ve been together.” “Why haven’t you told me?” Jet peered away. “I was afraid you wouldn't be happy with me.” The Unicorn sighed and rubbed her nose to Jet’s cheek. “At least you’re honest.” “As I was saying,” SpinningNote chimed in. “Should we send someone to Haythorn?” “We can talk about it with the guys,” HyperBlitz said. “I may like to go. I haven’t been on an adventure in a while." Suddenly I heard a shout. I swirled around and saw JumpingJolt galloping with a ball the size of his head in front of him. He attempted to stop it by placing it under his red hoof, but instead his hold slipped, leaving the ball flying upward. I quickly ducked my head down, wrapping my forelegs over my mane, although the ball was not exactly heading in my direction. SpinningNote’s magic grasped the soaring ball like a bag. Jet motioned the unicorn to pass the ball over. The sphere bounced between the top of Jet’s forehooves. He then pushed the ball to his wings, juggling it between them. The ball swooped down the edge of Jet’s wing while he stood up migrated to his back hoof. He kicked it over his head to JumpingJolt. Jolt had a huge grin when he caught the ball. “Wow, awesome! You’re really good!” Jet shrugged and giggled. “Heh, well…” “That better have a lot of charge in it now.” HyperBlitz remarked. He was referring to how the ball gained potential energy from kinetic energy. We could use it to power appliances so we don’t have to completely depend on energy crystals. JumpingJolt kicked the ball to some other ponies who were playing. Just then, the whole terrain shifted. The ground below me vibrated. I thought I was delusional or having a spasm, but that idea was banished when I saw my comrades react fearfully. “What’s going on?!” JumpingJolt yelled. “Fuck!” HyperBlitz cursed. “Earthquake!” “What?!” Jolt squawked. My body sprang up almost immediately, although it was difficult to stay standing. Jet embraced Ash in his wings and got down low. JumpingJolt and I flew underneath the table. I very briefly saw the image of blue flames and red hooves raise up into the sky. “Dad!” JumpingJolt gasped. With our coats pressed against each other, the colt wrapped his foreleg around my back just as if he was my real big brother. My mind raced as I imagined all the possibilities while the world around me quaked. I never had experienced a real earthquake before. If anything, it would have been while I was asleep, which my dad told me about. Well, maybe that was not completely true. It must have been young the last time I experienced one. But now as it happened, I felt snatched out of reality as if some catastrophe was weighing on my shoulders. Nevertheless, when the earth calmed the only thing on my shoulder’s was my friend’s grasp. It seemed so fast yet going on for a lifetime. Even though the floor stopped shaking, my body shivered, giving me the feeling the quake had continued. “You boys okay?” I heard Jet holler. “Y-yeah,” JumpingJolt retorted. We crawled out from under the wooden structure, my belly sliding against the dirt. When I stood up, I stumbled, still shaken. Jolt caught me by pressing his hoof on my back. I guess Earth-ponies had a more natural ability of finding balance on the ground. A mostly yellow shape fell from the air. HyperBlitz landed by his hooves sliding separate from one another, his body dipping low. The Pegasus stallion regained footing and recovered from his awkward landing. “Dad!” JumpingJolt stomped his hoof. His father gave an expression of startled concern. “Why did you fly away?” “I-I… the best thing to do during an earthquake is to get off the ground,” Hyper defended himself. “Why didn’t you stay with us? You should have been protecting us!” “J-Jolt, I’m sorry. I was thinking about that when I was up there but… I was already there.” Jolt turned away from his father. “I’m sorry. You’re right: I should have been here with you. I’m so sorry.” Hyper’s eyes filled with emotion. When HyperBlitz apologizes, I know he does it with the most heart anypony ever could have. He truly regrets any mistake makes. He came over and stroked his son’s mane, but did not receive an answer. SpinningNote swiftly came over. I had not seen where he had gone or appeared from. “We need to check and see if everything is okay in the camp. Especially make sure the energy mill isn’t affected.” Hyper dipped his head to the red-violet Unicorn.Then the Pegasus followed his friend but his eyes locked on his son. HyperBlitz made a bad choice of looking away while cantering because he slammed his chest and cheek into a pole. He did not make a sound, but backed away and shook off the pain before catching up with SpinningNote.