Linkin Pony - Recharge: Revamped

by Kaciekk

Chapter 34

Over the next few days HyperBlitz kept up with his anxious behavior. He was barely getting any work done while caught up in his fears. He had even insisted he went back to Los Pegasus to check if SweetHooves had returned, but CharmingRhythm assured him that Heartfelt would message them for any updates. So far, there were no messages.

Hyper’s apprehensive energy seemed to rub off on Rhythm. While he was determined to keep up work and keep up morale, he couldn’t help worrying about SweetHooves too. More so, he worried that Hyper would leave without warning.

As the days went on, Rhythm found himself sleeping restlessly. He was sure that his sleepiness during the day would catch up to him so he could finally get a good night’s sleep, but the restless nights kept up. He began having strange dreams between his wakes. It wasn’t often that he dreamed, but when he did, it was most likely because something was bothering him. At least this time it was obvious what it was.

It was the fitht night since Hyper and Rhythm had gone to Los Pegasus. Rhythm awoke from another dream. Something about the chimera running ramped through the camp. Heartfelt and SweetHooves were visiting the camp, but he told them it was too dangerous. The mares hid in the energy mill for some reason. When Rhythm went to check up on them, SweetHooves was gone. Missing just like the waking word.

Rhythm laid awake staring into the darkness. There was no way to tell what time it was. He longed to catch a few more minutes of sleep he needed badly, but did not want to return to his odd dreams.

Something sounded from outside his door. Another door opening, and hoofsteps. Rhythm sat up and perked up his ears. The door closed and it was quiet again. Illuminating the room with his magic, Rhythm sought his way into the hallway. He peered around the corner into the main room. As the front door closed, he caught the last glimpse of a tail. He couldn’t make out who it was in the dark. His eyes darted over to a glowing digital clock. 5:28 AM.

Rhythm checked Hyper’s bedroom. Just as he expected, Hyper was gone. So was his saddlebag and EPD, which usual stood by his nightstand. Rhythm swirled back around and darted into his bedroom. There he levitated his saddlebag up and dragged it along with him as he excited the base. He had no time to put it on just yet.

The sky was still dark black, but dim lamps from the camp lit up the streets. Rhythm galloped down the road heading south, at the end of it was his cab. Gazing up at the sky, he expected to see the faintest hint of Hyper’s yellow fur. Instead of fur catching his eye, Rhythm was able to detect Hyper from the glowing crystal in his prosthetic wing.

Rhythm hopped into the vehicle and sped after Hyper. He’s going to Los Pegasus? He noted that Hyper was flying due south. Why would he go there first? Rhythm tried to understand. Unless… Heartfelt. He was going to tell Heartfelt. Rhythm hoped that Heartfelt would be able to slow Hyper down enough so he could catch up to him. There was no way he could match his speed, and Hyper appeared to be going faster than before. Rhythm knew for sure he’d be heading for Haythorn after stopping in Los Pegasus. Heartfelt please do something.

While soaring through the air, HyperBlitz glanced behind himself to see if anyone was following. To his dismay, he could see the cab rolling across the ground in the same path he was taking. Hyper didn’t need to glance any longer to look to see who was inside, he already knew it was Rhythm. He pumped his wings and sped up.

Hyper passed the gorge and approached the mountains that shielded Los Pegasus. Over the mountains, he descended into the valley. The lights from the city illuminated the cloudy sky. He soared over the suburbs and found his way into the inner city. There he arrived at his old apartment, where he knocked with a hoof.

After a minute or so, Heartfelt opened the door. She blinked at him a few times. “Hyper?” Heartfelt adjusted her eyes. “It’s 6 AM. What are you doing here?”

“I came here to tell you I’m going to Haythorn,” Hyper told her.

“You’re what?” Heartfelt snapped her head up.

“Someone should know, but… not like that really matters now. Rhythm was following me,” Hyper said with a scowl.

“Maybe you should let him follow you,” Heartfelt stated.

“What? But he’ll just tell me to stop and go back to camp!” Hyper refuted.

“Maybe not,” Heartfelt countered. “Maybe he’ll come with you.”

“But he said I shouldn’t go, that it’s too dangerous,” Hyper spat.

“He said you shouldn’t go alone. I’m sure he understands your concerns, and is willing to help you in any way,” Heartfelt assured him.

“I don’t wanna bother him to follow me anyway. I’m sure he has better things to do.” Hyper shook his head.

“Hyper, he’s your friend. Of course he’d help you. That’s who he is. I mean, do you want to go alone?” Heartfelt pressed.

“No…” Hyper mumbled, his eyes cast away.

“Then let him come with you. Wait until he gets here before you head out,” Heartfelt said with smooth persuasion.

“How does he know to come here?” Hyper questioned.

“I’m sure he knows,” Heartfelt replied. “Just stay here and wait. I’m sure you’re not even prepared for this journey. I can help you get what you need.”

Several minutes passed as Hyper impatiently waited. He began pacing in the living room as Heartfelt prepared a food bag in the kitchen. Soon enough, the door swung open and Rhythm stormed inside. He didn’t even bother to knock first. With quick steps, Rhythm stood hoof to hoof with Hyper. His brown eyes glared into Hyper’s only a few muzzle lengths away. Heartfelt entered the living room when she heard the door close.

“HyperBlitz! How could you sneak out like that?” Rhythm accused.

“I know you would have tried to stop me if I told you,” Hyper said.

“Dude there’s no way I can possibly stop you. No matter what I say, you’d go anyway. You could at least announce you are going,” Rhythm stated, frustrated.

“Well, you know now. Is there anything else you want?” Hyper spat.

“Let me come with you,” Rhythm requested, his eyes and voice softer now.

“You’ll just slow me down,” Hyper explained. As Rhythm’s eyes gained an agitated glare, Hyper quickly added, “I don’t mean it like that. I mean you are literally slower than me. I could fly there quickly and easily avoid any Hybrids. “

“Did you forget we have a vehicle?” Rhythm pointed out. “And we’ll probably need it if we’re going to bring SweetHooves back home.”

Hyper gazed away, troubled. “I thought you didn’t want me going out there.”

“I mean, I don’t really have a choice do I? I was just warning you that it’s dangerous, and if you have to go, I’ll come with you.”

“Thanks,” Hyper said, although his thoughts were still somewhere else.

Heartfelt walked up to Rhythm’s side. “I was able to get him to wait for you,” she insured.

“You must have been reading my mind then,” Rhythm responded with relief. “I was hoping you could provide me a distraction.” He gave her a grateful smile.

“Of course.” Heartfelt smiled back at him. “I’m sure you’re not completely prepared for this. I’m packing you some food for the journey.”

“It should only take a few hours to get there,” Rhythm assured as he followed her into the kitchen. They stood alone, Hyper in the other room.

“Better to be safe than sorry.” Heartfelt dipped her head as she levitated a small bag in front of Rhythm. ‘Also.” She found her way over to one of the counters, Lime green magic pulled something out of the drawer and over to Rhythm. It was a stack of paper dollar bits. “You may need this.”

“Isn’t this the money you’ve been saving up…” Rhythm began to protest. “You should keep this.” He pushed the money back with a hoof.

“You don’t know what you may need when you get to Haythorn. It’s just a few bits, I can spare it. Please take itt. If you don’t use it, you can bring it back,” Heartfelt reassured.

A cyan glow replaced the lime green as Rhythm accepted the money. He sighed with a grin. “You’re too good to me.”

Heartfelt returned a smirk. She tilted her muzzle up and kissed Rhythm. “Come on. We can’t keep Hyper waiting.”

As Heartfelt met up with Hyper in the living room, Rhythm went back to the cab to retrieve a water bottle from his saddlebag. As he got another look at Heartfelt, an idea sparked in his brain.

“Hey, Heartfelt? Can you send a message to the camp for me?”

“Um. I’m not working today, but I guess I could still send one in…” Heartfelt considered.

“If you could, that would be great,” Rhythm expressed. He took a few moments to write something down to give to Heartfelt.

“Make sure both of you drink plenty of water,” Heartfelt told them as the stallions began to leave.

“Alright, alright,” Rhythm complained playfully, rolling his eyes. His eyes then softly settled on Heartfelt.

Hyper only managed a meager smile as he watched both of them. As it faded, he began heading for the door. As Hyper left, Rhythm gave Heartfelt one last lengthy kiss. She gave him a peck before he backed away completely. He couldn’t help but to grin.

“Thanks again for your help,” Rhythm said.

“Of course. Good luck,” Heartfelt replied. “I’ll see you when you get back.”

Rhythm nodded curtly as he held the door open. “See you, and love you.”

“Love you, too.”

After exiting, Rhythm circled around the cab to the driver’s side. He was surprised to see Hyper sitting next to him. His friend appeared to be in a slightly better mood.

“I told her she’d make a great mom,” Hyper remarked, commenting on Heartfelt’s protective behaviour.

Rhythm gave a single huff of amusement. “Heh, yeah.”

Before the two stallions left the city, CharmingRhythm stopped in town to pick up a few more supplies. He acquired a map as well as a small first aid kit. The map pointed them in the right direction; there was a road from Los Pegasus that stretched all the way to Haythorn. It would be an easy route to follow. The grey light of dawn fell over them as they left the suburbs.

That morning in camp, the rest of Team Xero awoke to find Hyper and Rhythm missing, as well as their cab. They all spread out to search around their base and camp. They asked the ponies working if they had seen them. BlazingFlair was doing one more round before returning to the base. Inside he found EchoBeat standing behind SpinningNote who was seated at the computer.

“Nothing…” Blazing said.

“Good news,” Spinning remarked. “We don’t have to search any more. We’ve got a message from Rhythm!”

“Really?” Blazing took a step to Echo’s side.

“We’ll, it’s technically from Heartfelt, but Rhythm wrote it. He said that he and Hyper are going to Haythorn to find SweetHooves,” Spinning reported.

“What? That’s… absurd,” Blazing uttered, Echo nodding in agreement.

“He’s leaving EchoBeat in charge of the camp,” Spinning continued.

“I have no idea why he chose me,” Echo stated, baffled.

“He chooses someone different every time too,” Blazing commented.

“Probably to test our responsibility,” Spinning guessed. “Anyway. He also said that Blazing should continue to overlook ThunderCharm’s training.”

“That I can do,” Blazing replied. “Anything else?”

“Hmm... nope. It’s pretty concise. That’s how you can tell Rhythm wrote it and not Heartfelt,” Spinning remarked. He turned to face Blazing. “Can you go tell Feather?”

“Sure thing,” Blazing accepted. He trotted back out of the base in search of his Pegasus friend.

“I hope they’ll stay safe,” Echo thought aloud.

“I’m sure they will,” Spinning said. “Hyper and Rhythm make a great team. They’ll figure this out. Have no clue how long they’ll be gone though.”

Echo began aiming towards the front door. “I’m gonna help Blazing look for Feather.”

“Alright. Go tell everyone you’re in charge.”

“What? I’m not gonna go out and boast that,” Echo counted.

Spinning shrugged. “Fine, I’ll do it for you.”

As the door closed behind Echo, Spinning placed his eyes back on the screen. He started searching online to see if there was any current information about Haythorn. After some digging, he found out that Haythorn’s communication line between Los Pegasus had been broken. There was no evidence stating how it happened, only that there had been no messages from the city for a while.

“Well, that’s not good,” Spinning spoke to himself aloud as he read the lines.

Whatever happened to SweetHooves, her team must have not been able to send a message back to headquarters.