Far Away

CHAPTER XII

----- TWO WEEKS LATER -----

“Thanks Darwin for having us!” called Jack as he approached the fancy elevator that.

“No problems. Take care!” Darwin shouted back.

Jack and Daring entered the elevator and pressed the large G button. The elevator accelerated swiftly and brought the two companions down to ground floor in a matter of seconds. Daring quickly confirmed the position of the amulet last night when Jack asked. Apparently, Kasha had a brother who is probably the most likely pony to have the amulet.

“Why does everything have to screw up so badly?” Jack mumbled to himself after they forged into the sea of black and white zebras.

Daring led him to the train station, “Well, at least we’re going home for the time being.”

The train station was crowded by pastel coloured ponies. A much more comfortable sight than a sea of black and white. The large dashboard displayed all the departure times of trains which included one to Canterlot. Arrive: 3:00pm. The large, gold plated clock displayed 2:58pm.

Daring pulled Jack through the crowd to the edge of the platform, where there were a substantially less amount of ponies. Daring sat down and checked through her saddlebags to see if everything was there. She mentally took note of each and every item before shoving them back roughly into her saddlebags.

The train finally steamed into the station. It was a long train for Equestrian standards. Around twenty-five passenger carriages and six freight. Daring pulled Jack onto the train (I think we can see a reoccurring theme here :P) and found an empty compartment fairly easily.

Daring shut the sliding oak door and turned to Jack. Jack paid her no heed as he unpacked. Daring saw the horrendous scars down his back as he turned to set his possessions onto his bed stand. The scars were definitely over a good couple hooves (God dammit. How hard is it to use hooves as a measurement than feet?!) long.

Jack finally turned back and caught Daring staring at his rough scars. “It’s nothing. I can’t feel them at all.”

“I need to tell you something Jackson.”

“Yeah?” Jack was stunned at her use of his full name.

“Just saying, I work for Celestia, to get the artefacts,” said Daring as if it was nothing, “But, if you tell anyone you will be dealt personally by me,” she glared.

Jack had a million questions. It was these weird bits of serendipity that make life worth living. Jack decided not to flood Daring with questions as it was a rough couple of weeks. The train pulled into the desert as the sun set. The beautiful orange rays streaked across the lands. The orange tinge of the horizon made everything much more picturesque. Jack slumped onto his back after watching the marvellous show of light, right next to Daring.

“Every sunset is something special, isn’t it?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The two exhausted ponies stepped out of the train onto the Canterlot platform, under a large golden dome that had intricate carvings that represented the sun and moon. Portraits of Wonderbolts, Generals and Princesses adorned the sleek white walls. Jack had never been to such a prestigious place before. Especially not Canterlot.

Daring pulled him along as they trotted down the crowded streets and alleyways. The maze of city streets made trying to keep up with Daring a calamity. They didn’t stop until they reached outer Canterlot, in front of a nice looking cottage with flowers lining the windows and leaning willows that obscured most of the windows. Daring opened the nice, whitewashed garden gate and trotted happily into her garden. Jack understood now. Daring pulled out a rustic looking key and unlocked the door.

Jack closed the fence gate behind him and trotted into the cosy little cottage Daring owned. The walls were lined with artefacts in picture frames and many glass cupboards containing replicas of certain artefacts. He followed her obediently into the study, a mess of a study. Papers were scattered everywhere and maps were scattered and mixed.

Daring looked at Jack sheepishly. Jack sighed. He knew what Daring wanted him to do. The next few hours, that passed like years, was complete hell. Everything was scattered everywhere which made filing difficult.

“I sense that you have a great animosity for me currently,” chuckled Daring, “I should keep clean though but I just can’t be bothered,” Daring admitted. Jack just flipped through thick wads of documents, filing them away like an obedient servant at one’s bidding. He tried to find anything interesting but he knew all of this was just wads of paper. ‘Might as well check them all quickly anyways. What harm can be done?’

Jack immediately cringed as he saw a small poster of the Wonderbolts. Not a poster, a whole wad of them sandwiched between important documents. He flipped through, knowing he was invading Daring’s privacy. In it contained posters of each different Wonderbolt throughout the years.

Jack found him being stared down by Daring. Daring walked over to Jack briskly, “What are you doing looking through my stuff?”

“I never knew you liked the Wonderbolts. Or Soarin…” Jack held up half the posters, which was all of Soarin.

Daring squeaked, going red in the cheeks.

“Can you reply in a frequency that can be heard by my old ears?” Jack chuckled at the distraught state of Daring.

“I think we have had enough time sorting,” Daring grumbled, “Being a celebrity is hard sometimes…”

Jack tried to keep a straight face when they marched out of the study. Daring slammed the door behind them.

“You know; I’ve always wanted to be a Wonderbolt when I was a filly,” said Daring.

“Doesn’t everypony?”

“Well, I guess I’ve got you now.”

“Good point,” Jack chuckled to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Well, I’ve only got one bedroom and one bed,” she said.

“I don’t really mind,” Jack chimed.

“Well, we’re going to the Canterlot library tomorrow.”

“Great!”

The two companions trotted into the bedroom. It had hanging portraits of Celestia and… Jack rolled his eyes. Of course. It had to be Soarin didn’t it? What a night this was going to be, with a Goddess and a Wonderbolt staring down at you. How pleasant…