Chapter 58 – The Tears of Another
It was a while before the large female Dryskian even slowed her tears, a constant storm of sobs and hic-ups as Ms. Olis erupted in her sadness, "Oh, Kads." she finally choaked out, "I fear I may have made a severe error in judgment."
"Kads?" Syls asked, "The electrician?"
"You'd have known what to do." Ms. Olis said.
"Oh, yeah." Tris drawled out.
"What?" Syls asked. She was interrupted by the much larger Dryskian as she sniffed unceremoniously, and then from between her chest and her dress she pulled a small piece of tech, a chip that looked as if it were black and green. "Is that a memory card?" she asked.
"Technology for us has been a luxury." Tris explained, "We have to leave almost everything behind every time we migrate. So, memories are really all we have in life."
'I already know. Why is she telling me this?' Syls thought, just as Ms. Olis turned to the computer, and with some trouble, turned the power on for the entire complex before turning on the computer.
"And sometimes, it's all we have of someone we love." Tris finished as the orphanage director placed the card to a small scanning tray next to the computer, and the picture of another Dryskian popped up. One that was handsome, and red-furred like a fox, his smile was carefree and kind, with a light coming from his bright green eyes. "Remember what happened?" she asked.
"Oh yeah." Syls said, "He lost his left leg in an accident several months before the Burgent Beetle attack." Then her eyes darkened, "I never figured out if he made it through the surgery or not."
"This was also the hardest year for everyone else." Tris said sadly, "I was new to the orphanage, and then you getting blamed for the Burgent Beetles." she would have continued, but Syls seemed like she wasn't listening.
"I was so wrapped up in my own pain, my own anger that…I guess I failed to see the pain of others." Suddenly, her eyes focused a readiness that seemed different from trying to win a race, "We have to get in touch with her." she suddenly said.
"Huh?" Tris asked, "But why?"
"I have to talk to her." Syls said, "I…just feel like I owe her."
"Settling a debt?" Tris asked in slight anger, "Isn't that a bit selfish right now?"
"Not a debt." Syls said, "It's just…I can't explain it." her hesitation and soft voice both confused and comforted Tris, "I want to find out what she's thinking, I want to help her." These words caused Tris to smile a bit; the hard exterior her partner used to have, cracked and destroyed by a rainbow-haired pony and then rebuilt into something greater by her own past, it was something magnificent to behold. She could see what she was becoming through these events as she raced with the shorter Dryskian, "I want to help her keep going, not just for my sake, because things do change a bit, I can remember that. But for her own sake. I think…" the short Dryskian said, "…I want to do what Rainbow Dash would do, I'm not going to just leave Ms. Olis behind like that; like I did. I'm never going to leave someone in need behind again." Tris watched as her partner looked around the room, spying the curved base on the server that could easily lead her to a place where boosting to the desk would be possible. Without even consulting her gunner, Syls hit the throttle as hard as she could, her tiny racer streaking across the ground as if it were an insect of some kind. The curve was much more gradual than she thought, but it didn't bother her, a quick burst of speed and she raced up the tower moving slightly to dodge cables and cracks in the metal plates.
"What brought this on?" Tris asked as they finally made it to the top, speeding past the edge and leaning forward in midair. A quick boost of the engines to push the duo forward to land safely.
"I just…" Syls said as she slowly made her way to the furthest edge, "…I said some pretty nasty things to Ms. Olis. She just kind of let my words slide off of her back, but she never let up. I thought she was being unfair to me, but…" she boosted from the stopped position, gaining speed quickly, "I think I know what actually happened now." The two landed behind the screen of the computer, perfectly hidden from sight, "I was the one being unfair, and I want to apologize." With stealth and precision, she finally moved her racer just right so that she could see the face of her matron, the sad eyes hidden behind the hands that tried desperately to catch the tears. "Now the question is…how do I talk to her?" she asked.
Rainbow Dash slowly moved forward, trying not to be seen by the two boys as they wandered the halls, Pums with a worried expression on his face and Jibs with a tired grin stretching from ear to ear. "Where are we going Jibs?" the smaller of the boys asked.
"I'm going to explore; you can do whatever." the taller of the two said in response.
"But Jibs…" Pums said and was cut off.
"I said 'Whatever'!" Jibs growled at the younger boy.
"Oh…uh, ok." Pums said in fear as the taller of the two kept going. He turned down a hallway.
"What was that about?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Breeze simply shrugged his shoulders, "Let's follow him." was his definitive answer. They followed closely, passing through each door as Jibs began letting them close behind him, all the way to the outside of the complex.
"Where is he going?" Rainbow asked, only to receive a shrug of her gunner's shoulders as an answer. Jibs looked around, his eyes narrowed in mistrust, and the grin on his face turned into a frown, then grabbed at a set of vines that the two ponies hadn't even seen before, and pulled them aside, revealing the white dingy walls of a weather-worn shed. "Where did that come from?" she asked in confusion while Jibs placed his hand to the wall. A small hum echoed from the shed and a door opened slowly. Impatient, Jibs grabbed the door as it slowly pulled itself open, and with a mighty grip, forced to door open. The crunch of metal as the rust fell away from the edges sounded loud, the rustle of vines that snapped and fell away while moss ripped away and fell to the round. Jibs cringed at the noise and looked around again nervously. Rainbow Dash took this opportunity to slip through the door unnoticed and hide in a dark corner of the room. Once Jibs walked in, he quickly forced the door as closed as he could, dirt and moss getting stuck near the entry point so that the door didn't close completely. With the lack of light, they could easily see the faint glow of the lantern that flickered, not a gas and fire lantern that Rainbow Dash was used to, but rather what looked to be a dying electrical thing with glass around the outside of it, and a light that flickered as if it was trying desperately to cling to life. Grass and dried plants were strewn around the floor where dirt peeked out and piled up. They were surprised by the area Jibs had decided to explore, and even more surprised when he slammed his fist against the wall.
Tears fell from his face, an angry growl that forced its way through his clenched teeth echoed through the small room, "Damnit. What the hell?" he asked himself in a low grumble, "Why is nothing going right?" Breeze scoffed at the words, a 'gotcha' grin showing up. However, Rainbow Dash instead lifted an eyebrow in confusion, "I shouldn't even be here!" the young Dryskian said, "Where are they?" To this, Breeze's smile dropped, and he too adopted the confused look, "Mom…Dad?" Jibs pleaded, "Where are you? You said I wouldn't be here long." The tears once again fell from his cheeks, "You said you'd come get me. Why haven't you come back yet?" Once again, he punched the wall, then again and again. He kept punching, each hit coming sooner than the last as he riled himself up, "I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO SUFFER LIKE THIS!" He swung erratically, yet controlled where his struck, slamming powerful blows to the ground, the walls and even the door. "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE RICH!" he said, and suddenly Rainbow Dash understood, "I'M SUPPOSED TO BE WITH YOU!" A punch, one of his strongest yet, his knuckles bleeding and bruised, landed right next to the lantern. The shock of the blow dented the rusted wall next to it and suddenly, the sparks flew. The dry grass on the floor ignited quickly, spreading and erupting from behind the wall as well, the small building was quickly burning, "Oh no!" Jibs shouted, his smile long gone in his sorrow and panic. He rushed to the door, gripped it on the edges that were exposed, and pulled, but to no avail. His hands hurt, but at the moment he was in too much of a panic to care or feel it. He gasped the moment he figured it out, the door would not budge.
Rainbow Dash didn't stay too long, she raced out the small crack in the door frame and let her engine roar. Instantly she let her magic flow through the machine, the edges of the Rainbow Trail lighting up and the wings folding to the sides, with a small burst of a Sonic Rainboom, she raced off to get help. "Poor kid!" Breeze said as they left the little shack.
"Right now, we need to find somepony who can help." she scolded and quickly raced towards the main building.
"Hope we make it on time." Breeze countered and was quickly surprised when the door on the side opened. It wasn't the door that Jibs had used, but it was still something.
Little Syls exited the building, young Tris right behind her as the two girls giggled happily. Tris looked up, just in time to see the rainbow contrail, that couldn't have been wider than her thumb, approach them, "Look!" she said as she pointed at the strange sight. Syls turned to see it, just as it made a large circle around them, and then raced off.
"Let's catch it!" the young Syls said, and raced off, "The others won't believe us otherwise!" Tris never said a word, instead, she giggled her agreement, and chased after her friend. The two girls followed the colorful line, only stopping when they saw the shed, almost completely engulfed in flames.
"HELP!" they heard a voice from inside.
"Is that Jibs?" Tris asked.
Syls didn't hesitate, she leaped forward and placed her tiny hands to the door, and with Jibs' help, began pushing. Tris quickly joined in, pushing with all her might as the door slowly slid open. Once it was open just enough, Syls reached in and grabbed Jibs by his sleeve and with a powerful yank, was able to free him from his flaming tomb. the three of them moved away from the flames as quickly as they could, Jibs coughing every step until they heard a creek, and then a buzz. "Fire Suppression Required in Arboretum Wing 7." the entire complex called out. Within a minute, the three children were surrounded by the other children, Pums patting Jibs on the back.
"What did you do this time?" one of them asked as the taller child glared at Syls.
