Odyssey to Canterlot: Vital Components

“Vital!” Spectrum rushed to the edge of the bridge, looking over the gap. She searched desperately, searching for any sign of movement, anything to tell her she was wrong. There was nothing though, the space below the bridge desolate and quiet. Only rocks, grass and mechs littered the ground below. “Damnit, not again. Not again!” Spectrum stood up, preparing to jump.

“Wait, I’m down here.” His voice had come out hoarse and strained, but it was there. Spectrum lowered herself over the hole again, and finally spotted the green hair that allowed her to know Vital was down there. She started crying, but she shouldn’t be. He was simply her guide, he hadn’t earned her loyalty. And yet she was so scared at the thought that she had failed Vital.

“Spectrum, don’t come down here! Luckily, I don’t seem to have woken up any mechs with the fall, but I can already feel that a couple ribs broke!” His voice was hoarse, the yell barely able to be heard from the chasm. “It’s affecting my breathing a bit, but I should be okay. we were nearing the end of the bridge, so the drop wasn’t nearly as far as before. This will add an hour or two to my trek though, so you’ll get past first. Stay there, because past it, I can’t guarantee a damned thing. If I don’t meet you by tomorrow morning, consider me dead, and come to find my body. I promise I’ll leave a message that details the trick to getting into Canterlot with.”

Spectrum didn’t hear anything. She tried straining her ears, hear anything that told her Vital was still safe. Nothing came though. Spectrum sighed. He must have decided to conserve his strength, or keep just another secret from her. As she brought herself back up though, she heard him yell out, “with my dead body.”

Spectrum paused for a moment. He was scared. That arrogant, cocky, kid was scared. “Just stay safe. I’d rather get the secret from you alive than dead.”

“Careful, with talk like that, people might start thinking you’ve got a crush on me.” Spectrum lowered her eyes, thinking about the last time she’d ever cared about a guy, the last time she put her hair up just to impress someone. She held one of the hip long strands, but let it go. Those feelings had died in her a long time ago to make sure her and Sniper Load would survive. New people were just trouble, and would cause only pain and suffering. They had to prove themselves, and even then an eye had to be kept on them.

And so, Spectrum started walking the last length of the bridge, contemplating what she might do to punish him if he made it back to her alive.

As for Vital, he was trying to get away from his mind. He’d barely gotten out long enough to tell Spectrum he was okay but now he was in a swarm of memories. He saw flashbacks of moments when he was not only hurt, but also of the few times in his life that Vital Point felt like he might actually die. He started whispering to himself, digging into the broken ribs he had, letting the pain get him out.

Vital barely whispered to himself, “Come on, I need to get out of here. Spectrum will be waiting for me, and I can’t let her down.” Twilight flashed into his mind, a warm hug, laying in her bed, waiting for a massa- NO! Vital bolted upright, his side lighting up in pain. “I don’t need you anymore! I need reality!”

Vital looked around himself, the edges of his vision filled with sparks of his memories. He could see a few mechs, far beyond repair. He glanced back up, guessing he had fallen at least fifteen feet. He breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that only a little earlier and he wouldn’t have been walking after that fall. Vital finally got up, gasping as the ribs dug in.

Vital put a hand on his side, joyous that the brown fur was dry. His skin wasn’t broken, so he had fractures, instead of death. He started walking, a limp in his step from the pain. Vital pressed his hand further onto his side. Three, three were broken, all on the right side. Well, at least that meant his arm wasn’t broken, though he would want to check it when he was safe.

The young man kept walking, past bushes and vines, watching mechs as he came across them. Once Vital knew what their current state was, he would either simply walk past, or give a wide berth if it could turn on. However, one field had three mechs, each with a soft green light coming from them.

“Fuck. Me.”

Vital looked at the field, and breathed deeply, accepting what he would have to do. Just the thought of it caused memories of mechs coming to life in his hands, and trying to rip him apart. Another image of Twilight came to comfort him. Her soft bosom, gentle lips, and the fantasies of one day falling in love with her filled his mind. He smiled, and pushed them away, looking past the kind and gentle pair of purple eyes, and into the cold and deadly blue eyes of his pseudo mother.

His body went into autopilot, the world cast over the image of those eyes. So full of life, yet dead at the same time. He reached a pillar within the canyon, grabbing holes within the rock and scrabbling up. His side burned, but he smiled to himself, saying the line he always had. “Yes ma’am, I am having the time of my life.” He had said it to Twilight for about a month before meaning it, a natural lie to keep his new life. It now became a chant, to keep the image, and stay the pain.

He started going faster, getting onto a ledge, and leaping to support beams underneath the bridge. He swung from each, the world disappearing further into the image as he swung from each beam, the pain growing with each swing. He slammed into the other side, Twilight tried to envelope his thoughts as he lay on a ledge across the chasm. But not even Twilight came to comfort him, only the horrors, only the pain.

Vital didn’t know how long he was there, only that it was sunset by the time he had moved. By then he was numb, the pain dull, continuing to flair up only for moments, but he would wrestle it into submission. He slowly got himself back down, breathing a sigh of relief seeing that his plan had actually managed to get him past the mechs. Back to trekking I guess, Vital thought as he noticed the memories were gone. At least he had that.

The brown man smiled as he saw the building he’d been looking for. He had been in this area for a year, and had made sure he could get anywhere he needed to. Including out from under this bridge. He slipped into the building, searching it for mechs; but soon found himself collapsed on a desk, sound asleep.

======+++++======

Waking up, Vital looked up, and his eyes widened, spotting a small green box with a red x on the front, covered in vines. A med kit, here? No, he must be back in his memories. A stab of pain reminded him about his ribs though, and that it would be well worth at least grasping at illusions if it meant possibly getting fixed. Vital’s hand shot forward, picking up the box.

“Are, zzgk, having, chkunk, now?” Vital’s eyes went wide as he saw a person’s head, but the panic died down as the person’s head was replaced with that of a mechanical head that had been hiding behind the box. It had no spikes, so not a warrior, and too small of a head to be a rioter. No, it was far worse, and Vital let out a long peel of laughter at the disembodied head.

“Repeat, Are, zzgk, having, chkunk, now? If no re,” It sparked with electricity, singing some of Vital’s brown fur.

“Poor thing, you’re missing an eye. Mom would be very disappointed in you, or proud. Most of you don’t come out so far, not enough survival instinct.” For a moment Vital considered trying to get the voice chip back in place, seeing as it was probably just out of alignment, but decided against it. “It’s a good thing you’re merely a head, otherwise I would have to lie to you, or dispose of you I suppose.”

“Prepare, hmmmmm, of misery.” The eye went from a soft pink light to a vicious red. This was when it would normally attack, ready to kill the foolish victim. Nothing was left though, and so Vital didn’t have to answer. Still the thing was trying to activate, probably working towards it’s death. Vital grit his teeth, his mind retreating as he said the all too familiar line,

“Yes ma’am, I am having the time of my life, thank you for asking. Now go to sleep, I have no need for you.” The eye hesitated for a moment, but then powered down, going from red, to pink, to off. Vital wasn’t able to enjoy the dead mech, the image of the mech’s mother tearing into his mind. Not Twilight, but those eyes from yesterday, the cold dead eyes he had lied to for years.

The memories with the creature threatened to flood Vital as he attempted to focus. He crashed around the office space, anything to get away from the bot’s one eye. It was dark though, or at least, it had been. As he panted, he noticed he could see the details within the building, slowly growing brighter. Vital sat for a moment or two, caught between memory and reality, before his mind connected what the light meant.

The memories were banished from his sight as he rushed out of the building. He couldn’t worry about the pain or about the mech’s appearance. If he didn’t make it back soon, he would be late, and forgotten for no reason. And Vital was not losing the one connection to reality he now had.

======+++++======

Spectrum crawled out of her tent, the first rays of light warming her face. It was a pleasant warmth, but Spectrum merely sighed at the morning. “Guess he’s not coming.” Spectrum hoped she was wrong as otherwise it would mean a long day of searching for what would be a very depressing corpse. She had to admit, this would be the perfect way to end a really shitty month.

Not that she could complain, seeing as she was still alive at least. In the world they lived in, nothing stayed constant, except mechs and death. Spectrum broke out her cooking equipment, starting to make tea from nearby plants. She wished coffee still existed, instead of the rancid tea she always tried to make. She would need to get more water though, and Vital could have probably helped with that.

Spectrum looked down at the cup as she considered what would come next. She could keep going, unlikely as that was. She scowled at the steep wall that lay ahead of her. Spectrum had no idea as to how she was going to get past that. She could stay here of course. Vital Point had made it sound like he had cleared out most of the mechs in the area, so she might actually be safe; at least for a little bit. But then there was her duty, glancing at the body bag.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of sensors. She cursed as she pulled out her sword. Out of her peripherals she saw two mechs coming up from under the bridge. They were both the warrior type that she was used to, so she could take them. She would want to stay on the side with the crab claw though, since they were usually slower to strike on that side. The first rushed straight at her, and Spectrum sidestepped, leaving one foot out, tripping the mech. What they lacked in brains though, they normally made up with ferocity.

She bounced the next mech’s claws away with the sword, switching the grip to get in a few quick slashes onto the chest, scratching away at the breast plate. Spectrum was happy that her blade was reliable, but it lacked the power to tear through a mech quickly. At least that meant it never powered down all of a sudden.

Her leg lit up in pain as the downed mech sliced open her leg before getting up. She spun around, a wide slash giving her room away from both. She then positioned herself between the two, keeping both within her peripherals. The downed one went first, an uppercut with the crab claw blade. Spectrum rolled to the side, using her arms to push herself back up. She grinned in triumph as the mech stabbed its cohort in the chest. At least now it had some real damage on it.

The two rushed as one this time, both taking separate sides. Damn, they always did this, changing tactics on the fly. She ducked as they both swung their claws, clashing against each others’. Spectrum grit her teeth, and put all of her strength into a leaping lunge, straight into the undamaged mech’s chest. She stared into it’s single green eye as it faded away, a common sign that a mech was dead. It was a moment too long though.

She looked behind her, the sun’s early rays being blocked out. There was the damaged mech, foot raised. It stomped down on her chest, and Spectrum thanked Celestia for the fact that the blades were on the top, and not the bottom. Otherwise she’d be dead. Not that it mattered, the glare off of the crab claw blinding her momentarily. Spectrum struggled underneath the mechanical foot, trying to get it off, but to no avail. Man this was a stupid way to die after all she’d been through.

Then it hesitated, and Spectrum heard it too. Footsteps. For a moment, the scene was serene, the mech glancing up, the pressure easing just a bit. Then Vital burst in tackling the mech into the ground. The young man started beating into the mech’s head, not giving it a moment to recover. The mech went to use the claws, briefly reaching up to tear out his throat, but Vital caved in the head with one final punch. The claw fell, sparks coming out of the skull.

Vital started standing, oil covering his fists. His left one dripped a red liquid as well, the fist that had dealt the last blow. The look in his eyes wasn’t of peace, or laughter. It was of a man gone mad, a man who wouldn’t have cared if he’d died, as long as the mech had been destroyed in the process. Spectrum took a step back from the brown man, blade raised.

Vital let out a gasp as he turned back to the decapitated mech, who had lifted itself up and stabbed him in the chest with the crab claw. Vital pushed the blade out, and then put his right fist into the hole in it’s chest, a blinding green light flashing out. Then Vital stood, an eye twitching. “Vital?”

Vital’s head snapped over to looking at her, blood streaming from the wound, and only now did he really seem to take note. He undid the latches to his metal box, bringing out a large green box. No, a medkit! He opened it, pulling out the salve within, and applying it to his chest. Spectrum sighed as she collapsed, her leg coming out of shock.

Vital noticed the movement and reached back in, pulling out two different items. One was a smaller medkit, another green box, but this one was covered in vines. This he threw to Spectrum stating, “I just found it. Apply the gel, but don’t use the primer.” Spectrum nodded, looking at the other object, a long wand type apparatus. There was a shorter one within her own box, but it was a one use. The one in Vital’s hand must have been custom made.

Vital put the primer against the gel, and the metal stick glowed purple, a color Spectrum had never seen from a primer. For a moment nothing happened, but then the gel turned into green light, going into the chest cavity and closing the wound. The labored breaths that Vital had before now came out clear and calm.

“Are you okay Vital?” Vital walked over to Spectrum, handing her his primer.

“No, but I’ll live. Now leave me be. I would rather not think right now. So catch up, or get left behind.” Spectrum fired the primer, the effect immediate as her leg felt like new from the mix of green and purple light. Spectrum tried to put a hand onto Vital to comfort him, but the image of the brown figure bashing in the mech’s skull flashed into her mind, and she couldn’t. She simply couldn’t.