Linkin Pony - Recharge: Revamped

by Kaciekk

Chapter 40

After the outpost incident, all was quiet around the camp; FeatherTune had found no more Hybrid activity in the area. SpinningNote decided this was a perfect time to explore the desert since there were no enemy threats. It was late in the morning the next day when Spinning decided to gather supplies together and go out adventuring. Feather, EchoBeat and BlazingFlair agreed to come along.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Spinning was asking CharmingRhythm.

“I’m completely sure. Someone has to watch the camp while you’re out anyway,” Rhythm insisted.

“Well alright.” Spinning shrugged. “I’ll be sure to report back everything we find!”

“You better summarize it, because I’m not listening to an hour long monologue,” Rhythm replied in a jokeful tone. He then added, “But if you guys get into any trouble, come back here. We’ll need to know what we’re messing with.”

“We’ll be fine!” Spinning dismissed him with a wave of a hoof. He headed towards the main room where the others were waiting.

“So that’s the only reason you’re coming?” Feather appeared to be questioning EchoBeat.

“Well, the main reason, yes. I guess it’s good to go on a quest with you guys again,” Echo said.

“What is it?” Spinning injected and cocked his head.

“Echo wants to come so he can study plants,” Feather explained quickly, with an expression that displayed how annoyed, yet amused at how predictable Echo was.

“Don’t you know about all the plants around here?” Spinning wondered.

“I don’t know that until I’ve had a look at them,” Echo justified.

“Eh, let him look for his plants!” BlazingFlair defended and placed a foreleg around Echo’s neck. “The more the merrier.”

“Saying that sounds like we’re bringing the plants with us,” Spinning joked.

“Hey, plants could be friends too,” Blazing grinned.

Spinning had begun slowly moving towards the door. “Oh yeah, just watch one start a conversation!”

“Pretty sure Echo already talks to them,” Feather muttered. Echo only gave him a hard stare.

The four of them made their way to their cab, FeatherTune sitting with them for once. Spinning took the wheel.

“What’s the fun in adventuring if we’re going to be driving?” Blazing pointed out, somewhat disappointed.

“Ah don’t worry. We’ll just drive for a bit to get away from the camp, then we’ll explore around on hoof. Or by fight,” Spinning assured, with his head nodding back to Feather behind him.

“So which way are we going?” Feather asked.

“I don’t know,” Spinning said dryly. “Maybe drive into the ocean?” He then countered with, “We’re going east, duh.”

After riding into the desert for a minute, Echo remarked, “I vaguely remember what this area was like the first time we found it, but that was two years ago.”

“That’s why I want to get a better look around,” Spinning addressed. “We’ve been here, but do we really know the area?”

“I know it,” Feather chimed in.

“Yeah we’re not talking about you. We know you know it. You’re the scouter,” Spinning stated flatly Feather scrunched his nose. Spinning glanced back at him and teased, “But I guess your help would be useful.”

“So anything we should be aware of O’ Wise Scouter?” BlazingFlair pondered.

“I mean, all I’ve seen around here are mountains. I think I saw a few caves,” Feather recalled.

“Maybe there’s more energy spots,” Echo suggested.

“Guess we’ll have to see,” Spinning shrugged.

They continued to travel eastward for another five minutes. The trees of the shabby forest were behind them now. Noticing How the ground ahead of them was leveled further down, Spinning parked just before a shallow cliff.

“I think this is a good place to stop,” Spinning announced. “Let’s get moving.”

Feather took to the air while the others began to walk on hoof. Spinning found a part of the drop that was more steady. He took lead in skidding down the side of the clift, the Earth Ponies following his instruction. Gazing straight forward, mountains lined the horizon, only leveling out in the far south.

The group stumbled upon an ancient trash dump, filled with rotting wood and metal barrels. Getting a closer look, Spinning examined the pile to see if there was anything worth salvaging. He used a forehoof to gently nudge away a barrel. Something green quickly shot out from behind the barrel.

“Oh, a lizard!” Blazing stated as the reptile scurried away.

“At least it wasn’t a snake,” Echo grimaced.

“What’s wrong with snakes?” Blazing countered.

“Some of them are venomous, if you remember,” Echo snapped.

“This is just useless junk,” Spinning let out and kept going forward to the south-east.

The ground began to slowly steep upwards the closer they got to the mountains. Just below the base of the rocky hills were small patches of shrubbery. Spinning angled his direction back to the north while Echo stayed by the greenery, taking note of the species. After gaining a few meters, Spinning whipped his head around to see Echo still standing there.

“Echo, they’re just a bunch of cacti! We live in a desert!”

“Fine,” Echo muttered, too quiet for Spinning to hear.

FeatherTune landed behind the rest of them and followed them on their way north. Everything was just sand and rock, with very few plants growing from cracks in the ground. Something up ahead caught Spinning’s eye. It was some sort of structure, like a small shed.

Before Spinning could take another step forward, he felt his balance falter. He kept his stance wide as the ground began to rumble. Earthquake! Spinning thought quick, and dashed to the left, furthest away from the mountain side. If any debris fell, he wanted to be as far away as possible. His companions followed suit, except for Feather. The Pegasus bounded back up into the air, safe from the vibrations.

There was no cover to hide from falling debris, but there were also very few things to cause debris. As the ground continued to shake, rocks tumbled down the side of the mountain. No rocks were large enough to cause injuries. Spinning had lost his balance and flopped over to his side. There he sat still and waited for the quake to stop.

It ended almost as fast as it started. The earth grew still once more, and the last of the scattering rocks settled. With his heart still pounding, Spinning glanced around to make sure his companions were alright. Echo and Blazing had remained standing, since balance came more natural to them. Feather gently drifted back downward.

“Everyone okay?” Spinning called out as he got back to his hooves.

“I think so,” Blazing answered.

“What about you?” Feather directed at Spinning. “I saw you fall over.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Spinning assured. “Just a bit disoriented.”

Echo glanced between his friends, wide-eyed. He finally spoke up. “You think everyone at camp is alright? Should we go back?”

Spinning pondered for a moment. “We’re already out here. I don’t see the point of going back. It wasn’t a bad quake from what I could tell. I think they’ll be fine.”

“There might be some messes to clean up when we get back though,” Feather pointed out.

“I’m sure Rhythm can manage without us for a bit. I’m not done exploring,” Spinning said.

“What about the cab?” Echo fret. “It was near a cliff.”

Feather suddenly zoomed back to the west. After a moment, he returned to the group to report. “It’s all good!”

Spinning nodded and continued to travel along the mountain side.

“I can’t believe that happened while we were out here!” Blazing exclaimed in amazement.

“That was far from our first earthquake,” Spinning pointed out.

“I know but like- it could have happened anytime while we were in camp, but it happened when we were out here!” Blazing clarified.

“Eh, it was just chance. Good chance honestly. There’s nothing around here to collapse on us,” Spinning added.

“Except maybe boulders!” Echo quipped, extending his hoof towards the slopes.

Spinning didn’t respond and continued forward. The shed he had spotted earlier still stood. The closer he got, the more structures he saw. There were fences lining around the shed. The mountain was raised in this area, the side of it very steep. On the side of the mountain was a wood framed opening. Old rail tracks ran right into the opening, being swallowed by the darkness.

“A mine shaft!” Spinning proclaimed. He stood right in front of the tracks and peered into the dark, squarish hole in the mountain side. “I wonder what’s in it.”

“I don’t know… something about it feels off,” Echo warned.

“There could be crystals in there!” Blazing commented with enthusiasm.

Spinning’s horn illuminated with a periwinkle glow. “I’m gonna go check it out. You with me Blazing?” The orange stallion nodded.

“I think I’ll pass,” Feather said. “Someone has to stand watch out here anyway.”

“Yeah, I’m staying out here. Doubt there’s any plants to study in there anyway,” Echo argued awkwardly.

As the two stallions entered into the mine, Spinning’s magic lit up the walls with soft light. Treading carefully so as not to trip on the tracks, Spinning curiously gazed around the rock and wood tunnel. Ahead of them were small blue lights that spotted the walls and ceiling here and there. It was the familiar blue of energy crystals.

“I was right!” Blazing gasped.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t look like there’s a whole lot of them. Actually…”

Spinning stopped in place and Blazing bumped into him. The crystal clusters on the ceiling seemed to stick out in a pattern, one after a few sections of support beams. There were also indents in the floor and walls, as if something was dug up from there.

“These aren’t natural patterns,” Spinning concluded. “Someone took out the crystals that weren’t needed, and only left the ones on the ceiling to act as lights.”

“So you’re saying someone else was here before us?” Blazing wondered.

“Seems like it.”

They followed the crystals above them until another tunnel from the left merged with them up ahead. The rail tracks continued forward, while the second tunnel had a clear rock floor. A single minecart laid on its side in the new tunnel, nothing inside of it. Spinning decided to delve deeper into this strange pathway, sure to find something other than rail tracks. While the crystals in the ceiling kept the tunnel dimly light, it wasn’t enough to see until the end of the tunnel.

Stopping in place once again, Spinning’s heart lurched when he thought he saw movement within the tunnel. He glared again, almost forgetting to blink. Nothing changed.

“What is it?” Blazing questioned.

“Shh!” Spinning lifted his hoof up.

Among the luminous blue dots, something else began to glow. Two small red dots floated, then paused. They were staring straight at the two ponies.

At once Spinning began to back up, and then turn around altogether, almost knocking Blazing over. As quick as he could, he darted for the exit, Blazing right on his tail.

“What did you see?” Blazing called.

“Hybrid eyes! There’s Hybrids in there!”

“Well fuck!”

The grey light of the outside world grew larger until the two of them bursted out of the mine shaft. They stood breathless, with Feather and Echo staring at them in confusion.

“Hybrids,” Spinning let out.

“I told you something was up!” Echo countered

“I’m sorry! I was curious, I wanted to see what's in there. There were energy crystals, but it looks like the Hybrids have been taking them.” Spinning shook his head as if to clear it. “We better keep moving.”

The four of them continued up north for a while until something else appeared overhead. A steady slope lined the side of the mountain up to a ridge. FeatherTune fluttered up to the platform to check it out.

“There’s a cave up here!” He announced.

Already intrigued, Spinning climbed his way up the slope.

“Oh no. No way I’m going up there! Wasn’t the first hole in the mountain enough for you?” Echo ridiculed with caution.

“I’ll stay down here with you this time if that makes you feel any better,” Blazing offered. “Oh, and there’s some more cactuses over there!”

“Cacti!” Feather corrected from the ridge.

Spinning peered into the large cave mouth and slowly inched his way in, Feather behind him. Once again his magic guided the path, and just as before, something glowed just beyond them. The cavern twisted, where blue light was flooding out of. Spinning perked his ears as he heard some noise. It sounded like a gentle rumbling pattern.

Once around the corner, Spinning saw hundreds of energy crystals collected on the floor. These weren’t natural either. They didn’t cling to the floor like clusters. Instead, they had already been dug out of the ground. Around the plies of crystals were other strange objects. Shiny metal plates, pots, pans, and even jewelry. It was a hoard. Which means something was collecting the hoard…

Finally angling his vision forward, Spinning caught sight of a massive beast. It slept soundly, with its tail curled around and scaly wings tucked at its side. The rust colored creature was laying in the middle of the hoard pile. A dragon!

Feather had just reached this part of the cavern, and when he did, he gasped. He stood frozen in fear. Spinning turned tail and dragged the stun Feather out with his magic.

Back outside, Feather took flight as Spinning raced his way down the slope. His hoof slipped, and he stumbled the rest of the way. He crashed onto the ground at the bottom, his shoulder throbbing with pain. For a moment he laid still, the pain overwhelming. Spinning peered up at his friends all looking down at him with distress. Soon enough he pushed himself up.

“Are you alright?” Echo worried.

“Yeah, just a little banged up,” Spinning let out as he got to his hooves.. He noticed a few bleeding scratches on his forelegs.

“There was a dragon up there!” Feather revealed. “It was asleep and had a fuck ton of energy crystals!”

“What did I tell you guys about holes in the mountain?” Echo groaned.

“I think that should be it for our adventure today,” Blazing said with a grimace. “Especially after that fall.”

“I’m fine,” Spinning assured. “But I think you're right. That’s enough for today. Two more threats for us I guess.”

“Maybe if we leave them alone they’ll leave us alone,” Echo tried to sound hopeful.

“I don’t know,” Spinning muttered. “We’ll have to figure it out once we get to camp.”

“Why don’t I drive back?” Blazing suggested. “You should rest.”

“Okay,” Spinning accepted gratefully.

The four stallions climbed their way back to the cab. At first, SpinningNote wasn’t sure what he would find out here. He thought maybe there had been nothing interesting. Instead, there was far more to worry about than he had anticipated. I hope we can deal with this in the future, he thought. After the earthquake, Hybrids and a dragon, he decided he had enough of a scare for one day.

Comments

[PrinceOfDarkness]

The title of your story made me think of the band Linkin Park and Chester Bennington(the lead vocalist of the band).

[Kaciekk]

10875825
HyperBlitz is Chester as a pony!

[PrinceOfDarkness]

10875874
So Chester was reborn as a cybernetic pony?

[Kaciekk]

10875895
Nope. This is an alternate universe that acts as a parallel universe to ours. In canon, the timeline that mimics ours, HyperBlitz is the lead singer of Linkin Pony, just as a Pegasus, and yes he passed away. But since this is an alternate universe, he's still alive. Chester and Hyper coexists, they are not the same person, rather, counterparts, living very similar lives

[PrinceOfDarkness]

10876083
Are you going to reference one of his songs at all?

Or have him sing one?

[Kaciekk]

10876098
I've done that plenty of times within the 8 years I've been doing Linkin Pony. References happen a few times within this story, but sadly, due to the rules on FIMfiction, I can't use copyrighted song lyrics.