Linkin Pony Recharge: Chasing the Sun

by Kaciekk

Chapter XXII: Fine Line

Author's Note:

Alright! All the chapters are updated with double spacing! Yey! Here, have a pretty dramatic chapter!

We were lined up getting a thorough inspection by a dark Pegasus who was called Crow. I’m not sure what he was looking for, but he sure was taking his time. A purple mare met up with us. She grimaced a bit as she looked at me. I examined her coat around her shoulders, which was covered with strange tattoos that looked like vines with claws.

“Just call me Thorn,” She introduced herself.

HyperBlitz nodded his head up and said “Nice tatts.” Probably to get on her nice side.

“Whatever,” She muttered. What a lovely pony.

Crow strapped a sash around his chest, holding a gun. He noticed me observing him. “Ya not have a weapon?

“I used to have an EPD.”

“We can’t use those.” Crow glanced at Dad.

“This is my leg.” Dad said bluntly.

“I know. Ya usin’ that to fight Hybrids? That’s wastin’ your energy.”

“Nah, I got this,” Dad insisted.

“An’ whatta bout you?” Crow went to JumpingJolt. “Ya have no weapon.”

“Could you give me one?” Jolt asked.

“I can let ya use a gun.”

“No!” HyperBlitz protested. “It’s too dangerous.”

“I can teach him howta safely use it,” Crow offered.

“No. Handling a gun takes more practice than a few minutes.”

“Oh come on, Dad,” Jolt whinnied “Why can’t you let me use it?”

“It’s dangerous.”

“Why can’t you let me do anything fun? You usually do.”

“I’m protecting you,” Hyper replied.

“I don’t need protecting!”

“Would you two stop!” Dad growled. “I thought we left this argueing behind us.”

Crow attempted to resolve the bickering. “If not guns, we do have some blades an’ spears. At least some armor, we have some armor.”

“I think that would be helpful,” Dad donned.

“Thorn,” Crow addressed the tattooed mare, “Get us some armor.”

After we recived armor, we set out on our mission. The armor was quite heavy, so I couldn’t put too much on.

“So there is a general area where the Hybrids are?” Dad started at Crow.

“Yes. We been seein’ some nodes.”

Soon enough we climbed to the top of a slope. A few shacks and trash piles were here and there. A node lied twenty yards from us, and another, much farther down. I caught sight of movement by the second node.

“Should we split up?” Crow asked.

“I could take two and you could take two,” Thorn suggested.

“I’m not going with him,” Jolt sneered, pointing at his father.

“What?!” Hyper snapped.

Crow squinted. “Why don’t’cha take that one and go scout.”

“Fine.” Thorn said, HyperBlitz following her.

Dad begun to travel to the node. I heard Crow whisper “Wait!” Dad didn’t hear.

I turned with a questioning face.

“There a Hybrid.” Crow got down behind some trash, so did JumpingJolt and I.

The dark Pegasus positioned his gun. His eye slipped to my friend. “Here.” He situated the gun into Jolt’s arms. Crow placed his right hoof around Jolt onto the colt’s right arm. Crow let Jolt hold his gun.

“Ya gotta look through here.”

Jolt looked through the eyepiece.

“Now put the cross on the Hybrid, and then ya pull back on that trigger.”

A bang rang out when Jolt’s red hoof pulled the trigger. The Hybrid swirled around, hearing the sound. It was not hit.

“That’a good try,” Crow said, taking back his gun.

He quickly put it up and fired. The bullet slammed into armor. Another bullet sunk into the neck of the Hybrid. It was an energy blast that finally slayed the creature. Dad placed his hoof on the fresh corpse and gave Crow a nod.

The four of us headed to disable the node. Crow slammed the back of his gun on the device and Jolt pounded his armor hooves on it. I shot some magic at it, but it only rebounded the blows. The metal construction shook when Dad energy-blasted it.

I heard the beating of wings come closer. Thorn returned with HyperBlitz.

She reported, “I think there are more Hybrids that we thought. They heard your noise and are coming.”

“That was pretty rude of you to say,” HyperBlitz asserted at JumpingJolt.

“Huh?” Jolt was either pretending he didn’t say anything or actually did not remember.

“You know what I’m talking about,” Hyper hissed.

“We don’t have time for this,” Dad said.

Crow continued to damage the node, now faster.

“Stop it! The Hybrids are coming!” Thorn clamored. “We need a plan.”

“Come on!” I heard Dad call.

Jolt and I tagged him and hid behind some barrels. Between two barrels I saw an orange and silver figure rose up on the hill. It dashed toward the node and the other ponies.Dad popped up from the barrels and fired. I levitated a rock and threw it yet disappointingly missed.

The Hybrid turned to us now. Hovering above the ground, its scrawny wings could barely keep it off the ground. We scrambled to get away. JumpingJolt tripped over the barrels. “Damn it!” He cursed. Dad helped him up.

Just as the Hybrid was about to reach us, a display of red cascaded as Thorn sliced into a wing with a blade. The Earth-pony then stabbed the Hybrid’s chest. I was horrified by her brutality.

When I thought I had a moment of rest, more Hybrids appeared. We scattered. Crap! I should have stayed with Dad!

I was chased by a Hybrid who reached for my legs. I glimpsed a shadow of a soaring Pegasus pass by me. Bullets rained down and penetrated the Claw Hybrid. I twisted my head to watch Crow swooped down to the other ponies and once-ponies.

I turned back and skidded. The ground dropped several hoofsteps away. I held my breath. I realized the Hybrid Crow shot was not dead. It slowly crept toward me. I could not move backwards. My mind pulled for strategies. I hit one. I needed to push the Hybrid over the edge.As it approuched and swipped, I engulfed it in an aura, pushing it. The armored creature rolled off the cliff.

A sigh of relief escaped me. I killed a Hybrid myself! But I felt almost guilty for it. Hybrids were ponies once, after all.

I spotted JumpingJolt being attracted by a Hybrid. He attempted to fight back by punching. The foe slapped him and he fell to the floor. HyperBlitz was just standing there! What the hell was he doing? After moments of Jolt struggling and shouting, Hyper lept to aid. The Pegasus pinned the Hybrid and pierced it with a hoof blade. JumpingJolt got up and started speaking with his father, not breaking into an argument.

I was foolishly distracted. A scout Hybrid skulked me from the left. The pale creature pushed me, I respectively stepped back. I completely forgot about the ledge.

I yelped when my back hooves slipped. My front hooves grasped the ridge that immediately emerged. The Hybrid did not show again, most likely believing it was done with me. I held my breath for moments, not to attract my enemy. When I was sure it was ‘safe’, I screamed like mad.

“HELP! SOMEPONY, HELP! PLEASE!” I cried. “DAD! HYPERBLITZ! JUMPINGJOLT! CROW!” He seemed nice enough to care about my life. “DAD! PLEASE! SOMEPONY!”

I glanced down(idiot!) The descend was about twenty to thirty tail lengths down, jagged rocks everywhere. It was a certain backbreaking death. I screamed some more, now without words.

Behind my caterwaul, a faint voice was heard. “GentleSketch?” Dad’s face peered over the ledge to the right.

“DAD!”

“GENTLESKETCH!” He gasped. He disappeared and reappeared over me. “Grab my hoof!”

My arms ached from clinging. My hind legs pushed my weight up. “I can’t! I’ll slip!”

“Use your magic!”

“It’s not strong enough!” That was true even with magic aid.

Dad leaned, his horn glowing. I felt my body lift slightly. He wrapped his mechanical hoof under my arm

“I got you! Grab my hoof!”

I let go, gripping his limb with both hooves. My hind footing slipped as Dad snatched me with another hoof. Dad strenuously levitated me up. He seized my shoulder then held my side. I kept climbing with my hind legs until my arms reached the top ground. Dad pulled me up without magic now.

He grasped me tightly around the waist, stumbling back bipedally. I was relieved to have footing on solid ground. We both fell to our haunches.

“It’s okay. I got you,” Dad comforted. “ You’re safe now. Don’t cry… don’t cry.”

“I-I’m so-sorry I cry s-so much, D-Dad.”

“It’s okay.” Why is it okay? He just told me not to cry. “Come on, let’s get away from that ledge.” He brought me farther inland.

“Damn,” Thorn swore. “I can’t believe how many there are.” Her hoof blade was planted in the Hybrid who pushed me. She scampered away to the next fight.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Dad asked.

“I- I have some scrapes on my legs.” The abrasions on my knees stung. I kept in the tears of physical and emotional pain.

There appeared to be one Hybrid left. Thorn cantered to it. She wrestled and sliced it’s unarmored parts. Metal claws sunk into the Mare’s shoulders.

Dad started to her. “Stay out of this!” Thorn shouted. Dad stepped back.

We watched the Earth-pony brawl the Hybrid. The metal encased creature grunted some words, but it was so muffled that it was inaudible. Thorn wacked the Hybrid. The enemy returned with a blow to the chest. Her breast was now covered with more blood than tattoos.

Thorn reared up to push her rival. The Hybrid rammed its clawed limb into her abdomen. Dad and I gasped simultaneously. Thorn’s movements slowed, realizing her fate.

Out of nowhere a yellow figure drooped from the sky. A wing swarming with blue, HyperBlitz carved the Hybrid. Both it and Thorn fell. HyperBlitz circled around and kicked the foe in the jaw. The Pegasus descended on the Hybrid with a forceful stab of a blade. The enemy screeched, exhaling one last time.

Hyper skipped to the mare, a pool of blood around her. “Thorn!” There was no response. “Holy shit!”

Crow landed.

“Why didn’t you shoot the Hybrid?” Hyper demanded.

“I was outta bullets.”

“She’s dead!”

“I saw what happened,” Crow informed. “She didn’t let anypony help. She set herself up.”

“You don’t even care about what happened?” Hyper defended.

“I tell ya, she did it to herself.”

“You don’t care about your ally?”

“She ain’t my friend,” Crow responded. “I’m tellin’ ya. I try to be sympathetic, but I seen so much death it ain’t phase me no more.”

I was crying again, full tears and hyperventilation. The fear of death and cruelty of violence roared in my mind. The guilt of killing Hybrids recurred. I sat, shaking and bawling.

“GentleSketch,” Dad came to me, “What’s wrong?” I could only weep. Dad perched in front of me and rubbed my arms softly. “Shh… shh… Just breathe, breathe.”

I inhaled, but air got caught in my throat so I started coughing.

“We should get back to the camp,” Crow said to HyperBlitz.

“What about her?”

“I’ll have some ponies come back. I ain’t gonna put you through carrying her.”

“And the other node?”

“We’ll go back for it,” Crow stated firmly.

Hyper came our way. “GentleSketch? What’s the matter?”

I hiccuped. “I-I… It’s… t-to-too much… too much….d-death! She-she’s de-ad. I-I almost d-died. An-and… the… we kill the Hy...brids.”

“Sketch,” Dad murmured, “You know we have to kill the Hybrids. There’s no other option.”

“They w-were ponies t-too!”

“They were,” Hyper affirmed.

Dad gingerly grabbed my arm and pulled me up. “We need to go.”

JumpingJolt returned to us with Crow. The dark stallion looked at me, perplexed. “What’s wrong with this one?”

“It’s just a bit too much for him at once,” Dad explained.

“Oh.” Crow did not seem to judge me as harshly as the other rogues.

We began to walk back.

JumpingJolt sighed. “Dad, can I appologize to you completely now?”

HyperBlitz gave him his attention. “Go ahead.”

“I’m sorry I was arguing with you. I guess… this trip isn’t what I’d expect.”

“It’s not what any of us expected,” Hyper said.

“I just thought maybe I could do things myself for once. I want to learn things myself. But I shouldn’t have been so rude about it.”

“Jolt, to be honest, I was rude too. I didn’t think before I said anything. You see- we are so alike.”

“I know Dad.”

“I think, since we are alike, we both look for fights the same way. When we both put that together, it clashes. We both want to be right. I’ll admit, you were right on some things.” HyperBlitz paused. “I have been a bit overprotective. Maybe that’s because your mother isn’t here to be the overprotective one. I’m the only one looking over you, and out here as been so dangerous.”

“I promise I won’t try to start a fight again,” Jolt vowed.

“Don’t promise anything. You don’t know what could come up.” There was a moment of silence. Hyper stepped over and blanketed his wing over Jolt’s back. “You know the only reason I fight with you is because I care about you.”

Jolt only nodded and hummed.