Chapter 110 – Sunshine and Shadows
The moment they opened the door to their garage, the entire team was greeted with sunshine and the smell of salt water, a mist that hung in the air with a pleasant scent on the breeze. "It smells like a beach." Breeze said out loud and looked down the grassy hill the garage had been perched on.
There, down on the sand and grass of the hills, sat a village, Hylops and other species simply enjoying the sun and waves. Some of them would come up with a catch of fish, while others held a bag of shells or clams, each dressed in either simple or lavish swimsuits that gave a feel of grandeur to the crowd. Others played with a strange-looking ball that they tossed around, either over a sand wall or just to themselves but always with groups. expensive-looking round or oval cabins that were a mix of wood, metal, and stone all scattered in a comfortable manner across the ground and a hustle of a simple life echoed throughout the air. "Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Suddenly one of the female Hylop villagers turned to casually look to the garage, and gasped in delight, almost as much as Pikie Pie had when she first met Twilight. "LOOK EVERYONE!" she called out, "A TEAM IS IN THE GARAGE!" The village turned their heads to glance at them, and with vigor, waved with a friendly energy that could have rivaled the pink party pony herself. The cheers and hollers got even louder when the same girl pointed out, "AND IT'S RAINBOW DASH'S TEAM!"
On the beach, a lazy-looking Sunik smiled and lifted his drink in a happy salute. "Guess we're celebrities here." Rainbow guessed with a smile.
An older-looking Hylop made his way up the hill, his white fur grown out in his chin to resemble a beard and his eyes nearly shut from age. He had a dark grey stripe running up each arm as he used his long walking stick to somehow make his way up the hill gracefully. "Greetings racers." he said in a worn voice, "And greetings ponies. I expect that this is your first time on Hyl?"
Twilight was about to speak when Rarity came up behind her, "The architecture." she said with enthusiasm, "The atmosphere! Oh, le magnifique! Such symmetry! I must know who the architect is." She then looked to the people, "And the style!" she called out with glee, "Oh everypony here is marvelous. You must tell me where I can find the one who created such designs."
The older Hylop let out a gentle laugh, "It's nothing special, Hyl is a gentle planet where we enjoy the sunshine, swimming, and fishing all day, not just to survive either. There is plenty of time to enjoy life."
"I didn't know Hylops like to go swimming." Fluttershy said happily, right before Hulondressed in a draping black and white swimsuit ran past her as fast as the Hylop's legs could take her before she found a tall rock and jumped off it and into the water.
"Maybe it's therapeutic for them?" Blade asked.
"Please, come. Enjoy the feast tonight." the older Hylop said.
"What's the occasion?" Twilight asked.
"Your arrival." he said happily, "All garages on Hyl have a tribe near them to welcome the racers to our world." He then turned to make his way down the hill, "It is tradition in our world to honor the racers that compete in the Terranuilian Race with open arms and respect. So tonight, we party, tomorrow you may continue your training."
"Hope y'all have oats and vegetables." Applejack asked, "Us ponies don't eat fish or nothin like that."
"Of course. We do serve Treeopons after all." he said with assurance and turned back to mingle with the rest of the crowd.
Across the world, in another garage, Ssalikka sat on the chair in front of the console. Her head hung low and her hands enclosed around themselves as she thought deeply about what the Hok-Sai had said. Though the words of the Meltackian woman still angered her a little, she thought more about what Tri-Tiner had said, how childish her outburst had been. Her elegant yellow hair hung individual strands into her face that she ignored as the rest of it was pulled back into a tail. Her leather tunic was topped with dull worn armor that covered her shoulders and wrists. "Ugh!" she groaned and moved her hands to her face, catching her entire garage's attention, "He was right!"
"Who was?" her coach asked, a rather small Sunik man who just seemed to have his attention on everything at once as he pointed another group of workers to where they needed to place a certain large part. He had a small shaved tuft of hair colored just like hers, though it was apparent that he liked to keep his short. He also wore a cloth shirt with a dark leather vest decorated with flat studs over top of it.
"That Hok-Sai." she admitted, "I feel stupid and childish now that I've calmed down."
"You're still on that?" he asked as he spun around to point another group to another location.
"How can I not be, Kkross?" she asked, "On one claw; that Meltackian girl insulted the emperor and questioned my loyalty, but on the other claw; I don't think she did that intentionally."
"So, what's so humiliating about it then?" the coach asked as he signed a document.
"I didn't say I was humiliated." she scolded.
"You didn't have to." he told her as he finally looked her in the eyes, "You're second-guessing what you did, and you agree with the Hok-Sai. You found your angry actions childish and are, in turn, embarrassed by those actions." His stare pierced her soul as his icy blue eyes glared at her, it was as if he could see her sins. She could see the wrinkles under his eyes, a sign of age that was hidden by his small stature and amplified by the speedy way he made decisions. He smiled a small and cheeky smile, a smile he knew would get under her skin if she let it.
"Why did you have to point that out?" she asked as she hung her head even lower, placing her face in her own lap and her hands to the floor, only to have him smirk and shrug, a combo she knew meant that she had to figure it out. "But what if they're both right?" she asked, "What if the emperor has no clue that the Chosen are conspiring against the other planets?" she then sat back up and placed a hand to her chin, "He never really struck me as a tyrant figure when he gave speeches."
"Why not ask?" Kkross asked as he once again started directing his garage.
"Ask the Chosen?" she asked in shock.
"Why not?" he asked, "We've got one racing for one of our teams right?"
"That's a good point." she said in realization, "If anyone would know the truth about it, it would be the Law Keeper, right?" she reasoned, "He's supposed to enforce the law."
She then scooted the chair she was on forward, a smile on her face to finally clear the questions on her mind. With fluidity and grace, she pressed the buttons on her console and then waited while the screen flashed the Law Keeper's name.
As soon as the screen changed to show the Kkelmar sitting atop what looked to be a throne, his sharp teeth showing through his grin and a struggling Hylop woman gripped by the back of the throat in his hand, lavish gifts all around him and even a hut on fire in the background, her smile faltered into shock then anger, "WHAT ON SUNIK IS GOING ON?" she asked.
"Might have gotten a bit crazy at the party." he said in sly malice.
"Let…her…go!" Ssalika growled with anger.
"Fine." he relented, his grin falling to disappointment as he dropped the girl to the ground. She quickly stood back up and ran off-screen, her fear and terror dominant on her face.
"Law Keeper Kkelmar, what have you done?" Ssalikka asked in anger, "Your actions have put the relations with Hyl in jeopardy for the emperor. Do you know how long it will take to…"
"Relations?" he asked, "You think the people of Hyl respect our relations? Why would they?" She looked at him in shock, "It's pathetic, downright criminal. He gives them our resources, our manpower. We're the ones who helped to eradicate the Hunter Plague all those Cycles ago. We sacrificed so they could live like this. And what do we get for it?"
"That was over a hundred Cycles ago." she argued, "You weren't even born then."
"Tch." he scoffed, "They were meant to be ruled, anyway. They'll have to get used to it when we conquer the system, I'm just giving them a head start."
"The emperor is trying to unite the system Diplomatically! Not conquer it Tyrannically." Ssalika argued angrily.
As soon as she stopped speaking, he let out a howl of a laugh, one that haunted her very soul, "I'm a soldier." he mentioned, "I get the job done."
"I know you were in the war when we had a tyrant on the throne." she agreed.
"I was." he said, "And I excelled in interrogations and marksmanship. What's your point?"
"You're not in the war. You're here to race!" she added in, "No more killing, no more terror. No more brutality."
He leaned his head back and groaned, "FINE! I'll keep it under wraps." He then looked her in the eyes, "Why did you call?"
"I had a question." she said darkly, "I just got my answer." and with that, the screen went dark.
He held his claws up, looking at the tiny amount of blood that dripped from the tip of his claws, "You don't understand, do you?" he asked himself, "The feel of blood as it drips down my claws, the look of terror on their faces, the pain I inflict, it's all addicting. It's what I crave the most now that peace is rampant. Conflict drives me." he then turned to his guards, two at each side of the plaza, nervous looks of fear on their faces, "How far did she get?" he asked.
The guard he spoke to flinched, "Uh, she made it to the beach and dove into the water." he said nervously.
"Hm." he hummed in annoyance, "That call went on too long. I expect I'm going to get a scathing call from the other Chosen." He then smiled a wicked smile, "Guess I'd better get ready."