Far Away

CHAPTER XVI

After hours of heated conversation and retelling facts many hundreds of times, Twilight had come up with a plan on her blackboard. She had already gone through around seven pieces of chalk, two went the direction of Fleetfoot. Jack slumped on the couch with the Wonderbolts lounging around him, apparently uninterested as well in the gibberish Twilight talked.

“Umm… Twilight?” asked Jack.

“Yes?” she replied.

“Can you repeat that in Equestrian please? Or at least help these ponies first. It’s been hours!” exclaimed Jack, a tad annoyed.

“Uh, ok,” Twilight recoiled a bit.

She trotted over to Fleetfoot, who still had a mended sense of humour but a broken body. Bruises were peppered on her coat, and a nasty wound was on her left hind leg. The blood had stopped ages ago but it was still prone to infection. Twilight expertly tended to the Wonderbolt, working her magic swiftly.

During this period, Jack struck up a conversation with Spitfire. Jack learned the facility in use to detain Daring was deep in the Everfree and was guarded by vicious magic weapons. Spitfire doubted that even Princess Celestia herself could overcome them with her powerful shield. These weapons were powered by dark crystals, that were once grown by the evil King Sombre of the Crystal Empire.

Spitfire told tales of old and new, about her life while Twilight tended to the collapsed pegasus. She had a five wounds. Five! They were scattered across her limp body. The Wonderbolts had done scouting missions over many other empires before and especially the Everfree. She described the compound in the Everfree with striking precision. It was a dark green building with camouflage nets draped across the top and cannons. Large calibre anti air cannons that fired pulses of black magic. The compound itself had few windows but had pegasi dressed in the same uniform Jack described so vividly to Spitfire holding what she could only describe as, “Rifles that fires magic bolts.”

Twilight swiftly did her part and returned to scribbling on the blackboard. It was pitch black outside now, except for the moon that was illuminating Equestria slightly.  The stars were out and the beautiful night sky was on show. She seemed to conclude her thoughts and turned to Jack.

“Well, I have a plan,” she said confidently.

“Yes?” Jack said hopefully.

“Let’s get to Cobalt’s firearm emporium. They are well defended and the only way I can think of busting in is to surround them strategically,” Twilight said sadly.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” asked Spitfire.

“Get some sleep,” Twilight answered.

All the candles in the library were put out, the silvery moonlight poured in from the windows, engulfing the library in a dim silver light. Jack couldn’t sleep. He needed sleep for tomorrow. He just couldn’t. There was something very wrong with this. What did they want Daring for? Was there something she didn’t tell him? Jack sighed, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted.

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

“Who are you! I demand of your name!” shouted Jack into the void of darkness in his dreamscape. There was a mysterious voice he had been talking to, who claims to be Daring’s captor. What a nightmare! Jack woke up shortly after he shouted those words. Everypony seemed to be staring at him curiously.

“Bad dream?” asked Soarin.

“Yeah.”

The small group decided to get the day going, it was going to be hell in the Everfree. They trotted out of the library and headed towards the edge of town. The roads soon turned from paved, to gravel, to dirt. Dust was kicked into the air by the small group of ponies. And blocked the gleaming sun. A shabby rundown sore sat at the end of the road. The sign was lopsided, the glass was cracked and the door was hinged to the frame on a weird angle.

Twilight pushed the door open to find a black maned grey coloured stallion who greeted her warmly, “Hello, young princess, what can I do for you today?”

“Can we purchase six rifles please? Semi-automatic is preferred.”

“Ah, yes,” he mumbled as he walked into the storage room behind the counter. He returned shortly with six M1 Garands with a small box of .30cal ammunition for each gun. “May I ask why you are purchasing these firearms?”

“It’s confidential,” said Twilight.

“Well, that will be one hundred and two bits thank you very much,” he said.

Twilight handed over the large sum of money and brought the rifles outside for everyone. The rifles landed in a heap on the dirt ground, the bright polished metal accents gleaming blindingly in the sun, with chestnut stocks. The five Wonderbolts took one each, observing the weapons critically.

“These have a nice build,” commented Blaze.

Twilight handed out five small copper boxes of munitions to the ‘bolts. They stashed it in their right wing and strapped their rifles onto their necks. Twilight followed suite after everypony got equipped. Jack took out the rifle that Daring bought for him. He always tucked it under his trench coat but this time, he let it show proudly. He slipped it out of the trench coat and let it rest against his chest, the meticulously crafted .60cal scoped rifle shining in the sun.

A hush fell among the ponies. They stared at the rifle, then back at Jack, then back down again. The .60cal was glorious. The gilded muzzle brake was gleaming in the sun; the body of the rifle was crafted out of a deep redwood with accents of silver along where the redwood connected. The stock was marble, carved with care and intricacy.

“Wow! I never knew that those still existed!” exclaimed Blaze in quiet amazement.

The group was so silent you could hear the soft wind blowing and the grass rustling.

“What’s so special about this gun?” asked Jack in pure amazement.

“Only three were manufactured because only a few ponies could withstand the recoil of a .60cal rifle,” answered Twilight.

“Can I please see the ammunition it fires?” asked Misty.

“Sure!” said Jack as he pulled a large iron munitions box out of his saddlebags. He opened the lid and picked up one of the rounds.

“W-wow…” gaped Misty.

The .60cal rounds were massive for a rifle, double the size of the .30cal. It could almost be passed for a projectile fired by mechanical anti air defences.

“Well, let’s get cracking,” commanded Spitfire, “We don’t have all day!”

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

The band of ponies reached the edge of the Everfree. They stopped.

“Ok. Here’s the plan. Spitfire, you and your team create a diversion to buy enough time for Jack to find a good sniping location. Then, you need to attack the doors with Jack’s support. When we wipe those ponies out, we all rush into the hallways,” commanded Twilight.

“Do you have a close range weapon, Jack?” asked Twilight.

“Yes I do, a Colt .45 DA,” answered Jack.

“Great!”

Twilight spotted an orange mare galloping towards her followed by a cyan pony with a rainbow mane. She sighed. She hoped that none of her friends would get involved but she somehow knew that these two would find out one way or another.

Twilight identified the orange mare as Applejack and the rainbow maned pony… Well, there’s only one pony in Ponyville with that mane. Applejack stopped in front of Twilight, the Wonderbolts and Jack.

“Do ya care to explain what they hay is happening?” she said in a country accent.

“Umm… We are… uhh… It’s confidential,” stuttered Twilight.

Dash on the other hand didn’t seemed surprised and landed next to Soarin.

“We saw you guys carrying weapons past town to the Everfree, I kind of know what’s happening,” said Dash.

It took a matter of minutes to explain to Applejack what was happening.

“So,” said Applejack, “why does she” – she pointed at Dash – “get to go?”

“Because she’s a pegasus,” Twilight said, frustrated, “she can scout.”

Applejack merely hung her head and trotted for the Apple Farm.