Far Away

CHAPTER V

Jack and Daring walked out of the hospital after two days of squabbling and arguing against each other, finally fed up but still friends, now putting aside their differences. Daring took Jack’s hoof and started weaving through the sea of black and white on Oteron’s streets to a less crowded, smaller road. There was less zebras on this road which was surrounded by willows, waving in the wind like large sails.

Jack took in the beauty of the place before concentrating on the road again. A metal pole was barely dodged in time by Jack, cursing under his breath. He trotted after Daring into her motel. A bleak looking place with a large sign with lights, signalling that it was a motel. Jack doubted that they actually worked as it seemed neglected.

“Well here’s where I’m staying Jack,” said Daring, “It’s all right I guess.”

There was one thing on Jack’s mind. Daring sensed it and said in an offhand way, “Oh, by the way. I’m taking the bed.”

“Great!” mumbled Jack, “I’ll take the couch then.”

Jack took off his trench coat and placed it over the arm of the couch and started exploring the room. It wasn’t the best of places but it would do. The room was completely pained in a whitish-grey and there was a small oak door that lead to a white tiled bathroom. In the bathroom was a mirror, some drawers and the normal stuff. Jack walked out of the bathroom and plonked down onto the couch, staring at the ceiling Daring did a few days ago.

Daring took off her pith helmet and lay on the bed, scribbling onto the tiny white notebook which rested on a piece of board she managed to pick up during the uneventful walk to the motel. With a sigh, she pushed away the board and packed her notepad and pen into her saddlebags.

“What are you here for?” asked Daring abruptly to the brown stallion.

“Confidential,” he grumbled.

“Do you consider me as a friend?” queried Daring.

“Yes,” said Jack, beginning to feel like he was losing the fight.

“So… What, pray tell, are you doing here?” she asked defiantly.

“I guess I have to tell you then.” Jack muttered as he let go.

Daring nodded her head slowly, her eyes glittering.

“Well, as I told you, I am an official cartographer for Canterlot and the royal family. I was sent here by the Bureau of Foreign Relations to map this area again as we do not have one that was drawn recently but they didn’t know that I had a bounty on my head. See, if I told them, my boss would be worried sick so I went on their orders but took my trusty revolver with me, just in case.

“Things got ugly quickly alright. I was being tailed by somepony. I could recall sensing his/her presence, so I trekked on. I was petrified by the fact that somepony had bad intensions for me and will kill me anytime if I let down my guard. I waited for the moment. It was day five of my trek and I found myself slowly running out of water and food. That night, when I was collecting firewood was when they ponced.

“I knew that they would ponce because there was a dead bush near camp. They were hiding behind it and it was barely five hundred yards away. The first pony leapt at me but I was quick on the trigger. I pulled out my revolver and fanned the hammer three times. One at the pony, two at the bush. My suspicions were correct.

“Then I found an abandoned town then I couldn’t remember…”

“Then I found you,” said Daring.

“Since you’re here anyway, would you like to accompany me for an adventure?” Daring questioned.

“Of course!” Jack yelped as he bumped his head from the sudden excitement rushing through him.

“Better start packing then,” said Daring.

Jack held up his gun and pulled out the cylinder and loaded up six special rounds. These were phoenix rounds and his father gave thirty to him as a gift. These rounds were incredibly rare and expensive. They are basically an HEI (High-explosive Incendiary) rounds but ten times as powerful. Jack sensed that he was going to encounter danger when he was travelling with Daring. It seemed like every darn monster in the world wanted to rip her into pieces.

Daring looked at Jack. He was observing each round intently as he loaded six into the cylinder of the revolver. Daring just shrugged and continued packing her essentials. Water, food, medical supplies and a flint and steel. Daring was soon finished and was nibbling on a cracker, not hungry though it was well past bedtime. Jack did the same on the couch, covering himself with his trench coat.

Jack felt cold. Very cold. It was the middle of the night and temperatures were near freezing. He subconsciously took out his jumper and put it on, to ease his discomfort. The temperatures were warm in the desert but in this jungle. How cold could it be? Jack found himself very wrong. He made a mental note to buy some thicker jumpers tomorrow. For the time being, he left the couch and heard Daring snoring peacefully in deep sleep.

‘Great!’ thought Jack as he rolled her over to the edge and slipped into the sheets himself. He flipped so his back faced the mare and felt warm and strangely content, then dozed off into a dreamless sleep.

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

Daring woke up to find Jack in her bed. “What!” she thought aloud but didn’t complain. The clock displayed 5am and everypony deserved their sleep, right? Daring rolled onto her back but felt movement. Jack had subconsciously turned and one of his hooves held Daring tight. ‘Good sweet Celestia!’ thought Daring but with the extra warmth of his body next to hers, she nodded off to sleep again.