Far Away

by Aetheres

Rating: teen
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Sad, Mystery, Dark
Length: 75570

Equestria, the once peaceful land of harmony has become chaotic. A war was sparked by growing tensions with the Drakes, and Stalliongrad down south is rebelling against Equestria due to different Ideologies. Can Jackson stop the war?

There once was a pony named Jackson Wanderer. As a foal, he read many books that told of adventure, which thrilled him more than any other thing that was in his life back then. This is why he decided to become a cartographer, after graduating secondary school. His career leads him onto things that he had never imagined before: fighting monsters, meeting important delegates. But he was blind to his real fate, which begins soon after he was battling death in the desert. Daring Do, the moral pony she was, found him laying on the scorching desert sands when she resolved to quench her thirst for adventure, then all unfolds there. Let the story of Jackson's life begin…

Check out my status blog on Far Away!

Feedback will be very appreciated. Thank you if you left a comment.

*NOTE: This is the first work I have done on this site, and in the fandom. Any constructive criticism will be appreciated to help me develop my writing skills and style. I have noticed that this fic may be cringy at times, as I have read it over myself, and these issues will be addressed after I have finished the fic. Updates to the story will become less frequent, as I am starting to pick up pace, and write longer chapters.

'Far Away: Fallout' will be released in September 2017 as a sequel to this story.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2017-02-25 15:58:30 UTC

Chapter III

CHAPTER III

Daring was still watching the ceiling in a bored fashion. ‘Might as well go for a fly since no one is bothering me,’ she thought. Looking at the grandfather clock for one hour was enough to drive anyone crazy. Probably even Celestia is you think about it. Daring took only the essentials, the motel room key, one water skin and a sandwich just in case she felt hungry during the short fly. Daring closed the door behind her before she took off into the endless blue sky.

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

Daring banked around in a wide, sweeping arc and started to follow the train track. ‘Shouldn’t get lost if I follow the train tracks,’ thought Daring as she soared above the jungle. She was contemplating turning back, but the view was breathtaking. ‘Should’ve brought my pad with me.’ She soldiered on for another half hour which was when the jungle came abruptly to an end and the sandy desert plains started.

‘What’s that?’ Daring asked herself when she spotted a brown speck laying on the ground no more than five hundred yards away. Daring dived down onto the ground, spreading her wings at the last moment so there was no gliding required. It saved time. Daring trotted over to the brown speck, now she identified it as a brown earth pony.

Daring knelt down and felt for a pulse on his fore-hoof. Much to Daring’s surprise, she found a faint pulse that was just ticking away. It was a bomb. The moment the pulse stopped, the stranger would be dead. It was not common for ponies to die of dehydration out here in the barren desert.

Daring forced the body of the brown pony upright and poured half of her water into his mouth. He spluttered, eyes wide with shock, not making sense of what was happening to him. Daring also couldn’t comprehend what happened in the next few seconds.

The brown stallion drew out his revolver and cocked it in quick succession. “You work for Kasha don’t you?” he hissed at Daring.

“No I don’t, I believe you have caught the wrong mare,” whimpered Daring, “I do not work for Kasha, but, I merely saved you.”

Jack was caught off guard. “Saved me?” spluttered Jack, “Why save me!”

“Well, it was the right thing to do and you wouldn’t dare think of killing me, would you?”

Jack lowered his revolver back into its holster, looking confused.

“Don’t worry,” said Daring in an assuring manner, as if everything will be fine.

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

Daring was flying franticly to the hospital and told the reception that she needed an air carriage to make haste to the site where Jack lay. A few minutes later, all was prepped and an air carriage was dispatched with Daring on board to rescue Jack. Jack saw the carriage coming and was tempted to pull out his revolver.

Daring did say she would get help, didn’t she? The carriage landed and Daring flew out of the doors helping Jack to his hooves. “We’re just going to get a check-up done on you, ok?” said Daring. Jack could only reply with a grunt. He felt so feeble on his hooves. He was glad to have somepony care for him. After being literally hauled onto the carriage, Jack passed out.

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

‘Where am I?’ Jack thought to himself. Everything was blurry as if he was wearing badly fitting glasses. He could see a tan coloured mare with a black and grey mane staring at him. His throat was burning because of lack of water but he felt strangely hydrated. There were tubes running from his right fore-hoof carrying some sort of liquid into him and also heard the faint beeps of the heartrate monitor. The tan mare must have seen the stallion open his eyes.

“How are you?” asked Daring in a worried tone.

‘Great… Just great,’ was what Jack meant to say but something along the lines of, “Mmph… mmph mmph,” came out of Jack’s mouth.

“What?” asked Daring, a bit worried, “Please speak more clearly.”

“Never mind,” was all Jack said, croaking, before he passed out again.

‘Why did I save him anyways?’ thought Daring to herself, ‘Why do I care about him so much?’

Chapter IV

CHAPTER IV

Jack woke up with a start. He saw a white roof and hear the conversation of two mares on the opposite side of the room. He tried to sit up on his bed, but failed. There was not enough strength left in him to sit up. All he could do was to grunt to get the attention of anypony. The conversation ceased and a white mare walked over to him, her hooves clopping on the floor.

“Hello sir,” said the doctor.

“Morning,” grumbled Jack softly.

“Seems like you nearly died of dehydration from what sources of information I could get my hands on,” said the doctor, “You will be feeble for the next few days. We are closely monitoring you, so you have nothing to worry about. Get some rest.”

The doctor trotted away and another pony walked up to you, yet this time her fur was a tan colour.

“Hey I remember you!” spluttered Jack.

“Yeah…” said the tan pony.

“What’s your name?” asked Jack.

“Daring Do,” she said.

“Really?” asked Jack, not sure how to respond. Daring was the most famous adventurer in Equestria! Why would she, of all people, care about you? Didn’t she have more important things to tend to? And she even existed? Jack tried to control his emotions and his thoughts and stopped himself from blurting out something stupid.

“My name is Jackson. Jackson Wanderer.”

Daring’s eyes seemed to flicker with recognition, “I’ve heard of your name before.”

Jack spluttered, “Wait… What? How have you heard of me? I’m merely a cartographer.”

Daring pulled out her copy of the Orbis Terrarum and showed the top right corner to Jack.

“You drew this map didn’t you?”

“Y-yes.”

“I knew it!” exclaimed Daring.

“It’s nothing,” said Jack feeling warm in the face. He hoped that Daring didn’t notice.

Jack was the trusted Canterlot cartographer. He drew maps, and travelled the world but boy, he didn’t know that he would end up meeting Equestria’s most famous adventurer. And, he didn’t know that said adventurer would end up saving his ass in the direst of situations.

“Gee, I hope I didn’t leave a negative impact on you Jack,” snickered Daring, “You look like you have just seen a ghost.”

Jack’s face turned red again, embarrassed. He finally mustered enough energy to sit up. With a grunt, Jack pushed his back onto the head of the bed. He could finally examine the room he was in. It was nothing special. The room was all white and had a sink, bathroom and a window, looking down onto the town of Oteron. Large spires in the form of office buildings twisted and turned up, reaching the sky. The bustling streets below was a flood of white and black, as zebras make their way to work. Jack finally turned around and saw Daring. She was scribbling something in her tiny, ordinary notepad.

“Hey, what are you doing?” said Jack.

“Nothing,” muttered Daring as she quickly put away her tiny notepad.

Jack found himself looking into the crimson eyes of the mare. It was like a trance. Jack brought his eyes to the window and shook his head vigorously, putting a hoof to his temple.

“What’s wrong?” asked Daring.

“Headache,” muttered Jack.

“Should I get a doctor?”

“No.”

Jack tried to make his way out of bed after a few minutes of looking out of the window. He immediately felt nauseas and plonked back onto the bed. ‘How could I have been so careless and not bring enough water?’ Jack questioned himself. Whatever Jack was thinking melted away when he saw the tan coloured pegasus watch him anxiously. Jack rolled over to his other side on his hospital bed now facing the mare directly.

“What’s wrong?” Daring queried.

“Oh… Nothing.” Mumbled Jack

“You know… You can tell me. I promise I won’t let anypony else know,” said Daring hopefully.

‘Should I trust her?’ Jack asked himself, ‘She is famous but can I trust her?’ Jack made up his mind. He made up his mind. He is going to trust her.

“Well, ok.”

Daring’s eyes lit up as Jack accepted her offer.

“You better not tell anyone otherwise word will get out about it.”

‘Am I making the correct decision? Can I really trust her? Well, the score has already been settled, might as well tell her, right?’ Jack thought.

“Ok.”

“I’m worried.” Jack started.

“About what?”

“About Kasha. He and his men are too powerful and numerous. In a sea of zebras, we don’t know who’s friendly or who’s not.”

Daring just laid her hoof on Jack’s shoulder.

“I think we have the same problem,” said Daring in a low tone.

Jack was drinking the glass of water on his bed stand to soothe his burning throat but all of it came out the wrong side. Water dribbled down from his nose.

“Sorry? Did I her that wrong or are you being chased by Kasha too?”

“Yes,” Daring said, trying to stifle a giggle unsuccessfully, “Gosh, diverse reactions really were a side effect to your medication.”

Jack gaped and the water still held in his mouth made its way onto the bedsheets like a flood. Daring burst out in laughter as she saw him in such a stricken state.

“Whatcha laughing at?” exclaimed Jack, “Now I’m all wet!”

“No shit Sherlock,” was all Daring could say before bursting into another round of laughter.

Jack just sat on his wet sheets with a bored look on his face which made Daring laugh more hysterically. Jack buried his head in his hooves before saying, “Your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth.”

“That’s very dramatic sir!” Daring said before another wave of laughter wracked through her body.

“This is serious!” said Jack.

“Quoth who?” Daring replied matching Jacks language, “Sie sollten sehen lhr Gesicht haben!”

“That’s it,” said Jack, trying to pull a straight face.

“Sie sind ein pissen Kopf,” Jack said sarcastically.

Daring was taken aback by the comment, “Mien gott.”

“What is your objective, Daring?” Jack asked.

“Well, my life is always so serious so it’s healthy for me to indulge in some light-heartedness from time to time,” she insisted, “Salty?” she asked

“What?” asked Jack, “Salty?”

Chapter V

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.

Chapter VI

CHAPTER VI

Jack woke abruptly due to the gleaming sun rays that pierced the curtains. He swore to himself that if he ever met the princess of the sun, he would give her a good smacking. He also noticed something else. He felt his arms curl around something warm and furry. ‘What the hell is that?’ he thought. He retreated his forehooves into a much more comfortable position. He sensed movement from the ball of fur beside him.

Daring felt something heavy lift off her but now, she was cold. Her source of warmth was now beside her so she started shuffling across the bed until she hit a solid, but squishy barrier. Her eyes widened as she just realised what she had done. ‘Uhhhhh… I don’t care,’ she thought tiredly as she was about to fall back asleep into a deep slumber.

“Hey, Daring,” a rough voice called.

“Mhhh?” she grumbled absentmindedly.

“I thought we were leaving early, and now look what you are doing to me,” said the thing beside her.

Daring finally remembered what she was planning and sat up suddenly. She saw Jack trying to comprehend what has gotten into her, giving her a wide stare. Daring hopped off the bed and gathered her stuff.

“Coming?” she said.

“Ok, fine,” grumbled Jack as he tried to wake up completely.

“Let’s go!” shouted Daring, “I have a few errands to run as well.”

“Ok, ok,” grumbled Jack, “Coming!”

Jack stepped out of bed and took his saddlebags and tossed on his trench coat.

“Why were you sharing a bed with me tonight?” inquired the mare.

“I guess it got a bit cold and I acted without thinking.”

Jack obediently followed Daring out of the motel door and thought, ‘Daring, you are a real riot sometimes to deal with.’ The two companions forged their way through the bustling city streets. They soon came to a store with a shabby sign saying ‘Firearms Boutique.’ They entered and saw a wall full of guns on display and a counter with a wizened grey stallion sitting behind it.

“What brings ya here today, Daring?” he said without looking up.

From closer observation, he was tinkering on a rifle.

“Who’s this here that you’ve brung along with ya?” asked the grey stallion.

“This is my friend Jack, but we have pressing matters that have to be resolved,” sad Daring.

“Ok Daring, well glad to meet ya,” he said, pushing Daring to the side, “What’s your name?”

“Jackson, sir,” said Jack as formally as he could.

“I am pleased to meet ya Jack, my name is Ferrum, though most ponies call me Steel,” said the grey stallion, “I won’t bother you two anymore so just tell old Ferrum what you want, ok?”

Daring walked up to the desk and had a lengthy conversation that Jack couldn’t hear but she eventually came to Jack with a black rifle with a grey strap and also three boxes of ammunition.

“That .60 cal round is for the rifle, ok?” said Daring, “It packs a huge punch.”

“Ok Daring.”

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

The two companions walked over to the edge of the jungle where no one was and set up a fire. The cold wheat cakes were stabbed onto a stick and toasted. What a day! They trekked through the rough hillsides until they came to the edge of the jungle.

Daring was staring intently at a map. It was yellowed and partly ripped. Jack moved next to her and wrapped a hoof around her. From what little Jack knew about archaeology and history, the map displayed an area in the jungle which contained a temple and a few other strange symbols that he couldn’t recognise. Maybe shrines?

Daring was surprised by this spontaneous show of affection towards her. She wondered what was going through Jack’s mind right now, but this felt so good. To have somepony to watch your back when danger arises. She wrapped a hoof around Jack as well and they both looked at the map, silent. They both raised their heads at the same time and found that they were now closer than ever.

“Uhh… I think that I should get some rest now,” said Jack as he put on a thick jumper Daring bought for him today. Jack started to lay down but stopped due to a certain mare holding his back.

“W-what are you doing Daring?” asked Jack.

“It’s cold,” was all the mare said.

Jack now had no choice but to forcefully remove Daring’s hoof from his back and curled up quickly next to the fire before Daring could do anything else. The last thing Jack remembered before passing out was Daring sigh and felt something stroking his mane.

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

Wow… That escalated quickly.

But in all seriousness, I have school to attend to so I will be posting 1-3 (short) chapters every week, but here is something I quickly whipped up after having trouble sleeping last night.

Chapter VII

CHAPTER VII

Morning came soon. The night seemed like a dream to Jack. It was so… well… unprecedented. That was the word he was looking for. He slowly rose to find himself in the grasp of Daring. She looked much more beautiful when she was sleeping. At least she didn’t scowl during her slumber Jack had thought with a chuckle. He checked his saddlebags for anything to quench his thirst and hunger. What he found was a can of oats and a few water skins fully loaded. No wonder the saddlebags were do heavy. Jack took a gulp of water followed by the uncooked oats. He put the two items away as he had to conserve the food for the adventure.

Daring started to stir at around 6:30am judging by how far the sun was up in the sky. The sun usually rose at around 5:30am. Daring slowly sat up and grumbled about how she had the worst dream. She described last night’s events as it had been a dream. Jack was curious to see her act in such a way. Jack thought it was a good time to ask as any.

“So, how do you feel about last night?” Jack asked in an offhand way.

“What happened last night that made it so special?” answered Daring blushing a bit.

Daring knew exactly what happened but did not want to admit what she felt for the brown stallion. She was sure that Jack knew too but she didn’t want to discuss it just now. The time is not ripe.

“Let’s start exploring, how about that?” she asked Jack.

“Okay.”

The companions set off into the dense jungle foliage. Daring held out her small knife in front of her, cutting thick vines and leaves out of the way. Jack was tasked with looking at the map. She explained that they entered through the east of the jungle and told Jack to keep track roughly of their position.

They trekked for hours until they planned to stop for the time being. Suddenly, the companions heard a barely audible rustling of the leaves. They jumped up to their feet, holding out their weapons. “Who’s there?” shouted Daring as she cocked her revolver with a small, electric click.

Suddenly. They struck. The Timberwolves who lived in this harsh jungle environment. There were about twelve them. Outnumbered one to six, Jack whipped out his revolver quickly instead of the big, cumbersome but powerful rifle. He fanned the magazine into six of the Timberwolves in front of him. Jack took stock of the situation. Four shots successfully struck home and killed but the other two merely wounded the Timberwolves.

Daring was having about as much luck as Jack was having. She killed five with her semi-automatic revolver but left one as angry as ever. The wolf pounced onto her. “JACK!” she yelped as the wold bit at her neck.

Jack spun round after having reloaded his revolver quickly and put a shot into the wolf, trying to kill it. This action put himself into danger. ‘Well, at least I can claim to have saved the most famous adventurer in the world’s life,’ thought jack as the two Timberwolves behind him tore his back viciously. The brown trench coat was covered in claw marks and stained with blood, his back now a glistening red mess.

“Nooo!” shouted Daring as he took Jack’s rifle from his back and shot one of the wolves. The bullet gouged itself in its head as it exploded, causing s small crack in the wolf’s skull. She quickly reloaded the rifle, the empty cartridge fell onto the ground with a patter. She took aim at the wolf and pulled the trigger. She fell backwards as the rifle fired, the bullet smashing into the wolf and this time, exploding his head clean off his neck.

Blood splattered everywhere as the destructive weapon was put to use. Jack was wide eyed at his companion using the rifle. This was the first time he saw a rifle fire high-explosive incendiary ammunition. The wolves were scorched by the bullet and on the ground scattered the many corpses.

“Turn onto your back,” Daring huffed as she slammed a forehoof onto Jack’s knees causing them to give way. She ripped the medical supplies out of the saddlebags and found the antiseptic. Jack moaned in pain as she cleaned her hooves before setting out to work on Jack’s back. She took off the trench coat as softly as possible. She started using a sterile cloth to clean Jack’s back of the dried blood. The claws tore deep into his back.

Daring then took her antiseptic and rubbed it on Jack’s back. He grunted in agony as the antiseptic touched his wounds. She then found some gauze bandages and wrapped them around Jack’s body.

“T-thanks Daring,” muttered Jack through gritted teeth.

Daring grinned at him holding a hoof to his lips. She just stared into his eyes before looking through the saddlebags again.

“Can you keep on going?” asked Daring. She knew what she was asking him to do was selfish

“Y-yeah, sure!” replied Jack, standing up trying to hide his wince of pain.

Daring instantly spotted his pain.

“Maybe we should just set up camp here for tonight then, hey?” she asked in a friendly tone.

“That’ll be fine for me,” said Jack thankfully.

She collected the firewood. Jack tried to protest, saying that he could help too but ended up only using the flint and steel to light the straws that she took with her to start fires. Before too long, the sun had started to set and the jungle started to become dark. The fire was cackling merrily, but the ponies sitting around it were the exact opposite of that.

“I’ve never really been attacked by feral animals before, much less killed one,” she talked in a conversational tone.

“Well, it’s a necessary evil,” said Jack.

Tears welled up in the mare’s eyes. You would think that somepony wandering by themselves would have seen themselves through these moments before. Daring certainly wasn’t one of them. As a matter of fact, in her novels, she never talked about killing but talked about being killed. Being hunted. She was not the hunter, but the hunted. Jack thought about this for a period of time at night but couldn’t sleep due to how uncomfortable his back felt. Daring seemed to take notice and walked over to him. Her purple eyes glistening, she snuggled comfortably next to Jack.

Before long, she was fast asleep. ‘Sleeping like a log, eh?’ thought Jack. He chuckled and tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep himself. He found himself unconsciously stroking Daring’s mane. This was the first time he had a good look at her features. On prominent one was a scar she had on her right foreleg. It nearly stretched down the whole length of the limb. Jack felt strangely comforted by the mare sleeping beside him. He felt safe. He never felt like this in his life before…

Chapter VIII

CHAPTER VIII

Jack woke up again, but this time not to the rays of the sun, but to the birds singing their tunes merrily in the trees above. The thick green canopy of large leaves shaded the floor of the jungle from most of the sun’s rays. He found his hoof resting on the sleeping mare’s body. He lifted his hoof up and packed for the day. His back was throbbing with pain when he twisted his body to gain access to his saddlebags. Daring started to stir at the commotion caused by the stallion as he reached for the water and map in his saddlebags.

Daring sat up and turned her head to look at what Jack was doing. She nodded to herself and rose up from the ground, trotting over to her own saddlebags which were on the other side of the fire. Daring picked it up with a hoof and threw it onto her back.

Jack, now content with what he has achieved (getting his water skin and the map), stood up and tried to throw the saddlebags onto his back. “Oof!” he exclaimed as his back jumped at the pain the saddlebags caused.

Daring looked at him and shook her head. She took the saddlebags on her back and said to Jack, “Let’s get cracking.” Jack silently obliged and started following Daring through the jungle slowly but steadily. The vines here were getting thicker and the foliage was denser. Daring had to now pull out a combat knife to slice through the undergrowth. This continued for hours upon end.

“Are we there yet?” groaned Jack as he put a hoof to his back.

“Are you tired already?” asked Daring jeeringly.

“I guess exhausted is a better word.”

“At least you still have your sense of humour,” said Daring.

Jack rolled his eyes. He started down at the yellowed map he was holding to check their location. By Jack’s rough estimate, they were two miles away from the temple.

The two companions walked until they reached a clearing. The sun was high above them in the endless sky and the grass was green and soft. The cheerful chorus of birds echoed through the jungle. It was peaceful. The clearing had a small hill that was basking in sunlight. They trotted happily to the top of the hill and gasped.

“Is that the temple?” asked Jack curiously.

“It should be,” responded Daring.

Without any warning, Daring bit Jack’s mane, dragging him to the entrance. Jack recoiled from Daring. He looked into the looming dark passageways of the ancient temple, the walls covered with moss which covered the cracks of the rough stone.

Jack drew his torch and illuminated the dark passage. ‘Daring must be crazy to go to places like these by herself,’ thought Jack but didn’t complain.

“Watch your legs Jack,” whispered Daring, “All sorts of traps here.”

Suddenly, Daring felt the stone under her hoof give way. She yelped. Jack quickly leapt to her aid but it was in vain. A mesh net was cast over Daring as she struggled to get herself out. Jack yanked the net, only answered with a cry of anguish by Daring.

“I knew you were bad luck all along!” shouted Daring angrily.

Jack just kept his mouth shut and worked on the net. That was when he saw a shadow. Only a glimpse but that was enough to set off alarm bells in his brain. He drew his revolver and turned. He jumped back when he saw a monster, twice the size of him. Jack’s face went white. A whimper escaped his lips before the monster slashed at him with sharp claws.

The monster looked wolf like, blue and back in colour with razor sharp teeth. Jack had stumbled back as his crimson blood leaked from his wounds. He feebly tried to fire his revolver but the monster took his revolver with his tail and tried unsuccessfully to knock Jack unconscious. It was chaos in the dark hallway.

“In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity” ― *Sun Tzu***

Daring struggled against the net, trying to reach for her knife which was in her saddlebags. The good news; the saddlebags were already open. The bad news; she found it hard to reach. She struggled furiously at her saddlebags, every moment passed made her more frustrated.

“There is only one true magic in the world; willpower” – *Me!** (at one of my 'motivational' speeches for school... yay for me!)*

She tried one final time, she twisted herself painfully. She finally took hold of her saddlebags. Now, all she had to do was to get the knife. She searched through her saddlebags, finally finding the item she was looking for. “BUCK ME!” she yelled as the knife tumbled out of her hooves and landed out of her reach. She cried with tears of frustration. She looked up helplessly as the monster – ‘Aha! It’s Ahuizotl’ she thought – tore at Jack. She cried tears of frustration but they were in vain. It’s all over. It’s all over…

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

Daring woke up in what seemed to be a jail cell. The walls were rough and cracked, and the walls had no colour. They were bleak. She felt a warmth beside her. ‘Oh Celestia!’ she thought, looking at the sleeping brown pony beside her. Jack lay there, unconscious with dried blood caking his fur. ‘Oh no,’ thought Daring. She poked at his limp body. She tried to lift her hoof to Jack’s muzzle but it was tied down to the wall behind her.

Time passed slowly, each minute seemed like an hour. In what seemed like hours later, Jack started to stir. Daring looked at him hopefully. Jack grunted with the effort to sit up, but he yelped in pain.

“Slowly now,” whispered Daring.

The door leading to the prison was thrown open and in came a zebra. The zebra opened the jail cell and unlocked Jack from his chains and yelled at him to stand up. The poor pony obliged and walked like a broken pony, his head hung low.

“Leave him alone!” Daring yelled but no awaited response came.

Tears started flowing down Daring’s cheek. ‘What have I done?’

Chapter IX

CHAPTER IX

Jack felt himself laying on a cold, stone table. He didn’t dare move after the past incident. He scanned the room around him within his field of vision. The ceiling was also made of stone, littered with cracks and stained with moss. Large, rotting wooden beams lined the stones, as an architectural support.

“Ah, you’re awake,” said a voice behind Jack.

Jack merely shifted his head to get a better view of the room after he knew the presence in the room noted that he was awake. The walls were in the same condition as the ceiling and there was a barred metal door on the far side of the room.

“Who are you?” Jack whimpered pathetically.

“Oh, how rude of me!” exclaimed the foreign voice, “My name is Kasha Stones! Don’t you remember me? I remember you. You killed my zebras. You will pay for that,” his voice ended in a snarl.

Jack tried to move but with no success. There were chains which bound him to the stone table he was laying on. Kasha removed them swiftly with a click and tied his legs up and threw him across the room. He picked up a knife and positioned it at his neck.

“Why are you here?” Kasha demanded.

“None of your business!” shouted Jack.

Kasha looked stunned, as if nopony had shouted at him before. He snorted viciously as he dragged the knife across Jack’s back. The pain was so intense, nothing Jack has ever felt before. He supressed a scream unsuccessfully and then passed out. It was like being whipped but the effects lasted for a much longer period of time.

Daring sat up straight in her cell when she heard the yell of pain. She was sweating. Her magenta eyes looked at the iron door intensely, all she knew was that somepony has elicited a scream from somepony she cared about. Somepony who cared for her. She faltered not when thinking that somepony like Jack would give his life for her. The pure willpower she had to bust Jack out of that room was pooling into a ferocity of a cyclone. She pulled tightly onto her restraints as her nostrils flared.

Guards rushed in to find that amazingly that Daring had escaped the chains to which she was bound. Daring picked up a sword from the rack on the opposite side of the prison cell. She skilfully used the sword to parry and attack the guards who were merely using batons. She whirled the sword using her mouth and subduing anypony who get too close.

The floor was soon stained a crimson red before Daring went to the iron door and peered into the window seeing an unconscious Jack and a Kasha sitting in his chair and observing an amulet closely. She knew exactly what it was and she was going to get it. It could not get in the hooves of such an evil zebra.

She stuck the sword in the lock and twisted ferociously. The door was locked fast. She saw that Kasha had noticed and was smirking smugly at her. He stepped on top of Jack and posed jeeringly.

“You have no honour Kasha!” she screeched, her voice carrying through the metal and rumbled the temple. Daring could only watch as Kasha tied Jack up and throw him onto the floor roughly.

Kasha knew that he could not win against this mare. He tossed the amulet to an eagle that was perched next to him. “Go, give this amulet to Kashin.” Kasha drew his own longsword and opened the door in defeat. At least He will go down swinging.

Daring lunged but was blocked by the longsword. She struck at Kasha swiftly when he was recovering from the previous attack. He yowled in pain as crimson splattered onto the floor. At his time of weakness, Daring stabbed him through the heart in rage and kicked the longsword out of his hooves.

Daring found their things littering the corner of the small compartment and also Jack. Jack was battered and bloody. He was sure to die from infection soon. Daring was relatively unscathed and resolved to use her pegasus magic to call her friend who was also in these parts studying biology. The spell was only used in dire circumstances and was mentally taxing.

She glowed brightly as the message was sent to her friend. She stood shakily and told herself, ‘everything will be fine.’ She knew this was all but a lie.

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

The blue pegasus was flying about in his research tent not far from the temple he was planning to discover in a few days’ time. He was currently studying the fauna native to this area. There is a dark blue chimpanzee and a few others he was currently writing papers on for his university. Being a professor was hard, but at least you got to travel to places like this!

He suddenly felt a tingle and an audio message was playing through his head. ‘Oh sweet merciful Celestia!’ he thought, ‘Daring is in trouble.’ Daring was his friend at university, they both took the archaeology class with Professor Sandstone.

He knew immediately at what place she was. The distress call was a magical signal that all pegasi could send. He got dressed in a coat and immediately set out to the temple of stone he found earlier. It was barely twenty minutes away. There was a hold in the roof of one of the compartments. He dived into it and landed with a thump onto the cracked stone floor.

His eyes widened as he saw the stallion covered in blood and Daring sitting next to him. He walked over next to Daring before he said anything.

“Hello?” he asked cautiously.

“Hi Darwin. We are in a sticky situation, do you mind lending a hoof to get this stallion to the hospital?” Daring asked, supressing the tears that would eventually spill.

“Sure!” said Darwin.

Chapter X

CHAPTER X

Daring paced nervously in the lobby of the hospital, awaiting the word that Jack was going to be fine. Long hours had passed and it was driving her crazy. The purely white lobby had no decorations except for a red cross behind the reception. There was nothing to look at, to stop her mind from thinking about Jack. There was nothing to tear her mind from him.

Darwin was reading one of his thick dusty books on a soft white couch, and was periodically peering over the book to glance at Daring. She looked nervous. The pacing was about to drive Darwin crazy as the clop of her hooves timed an orchestra of nothingness except for the out of sync clock on the wall.

Daring suddenly stopped in her tracks and looked at the clock. It displayed 3:48. Jack was in intensive care for about three hours now and Daring’s mind has begun thinking about things she had never thought she would even dream about. Vivid pictures of Jack laying in a coffin, Daring sitting next to him looking helpless. Daring walked over to the reception desk.

“Excuse me,” she said, “Do you know the condition of Jackson Wanderer?”

The pony at the desk flipped through thick wads of documents and pulled out a file.

“Yes, I do, he is currently in a critical condition due to blood poisoning and lack of blood. I’m sorry ma’am but there is a high chance of fatality. He is undergoing surgery,” said the receptionist.

Daring walked back over to Darwin, her dam that blocked the flood of emotions was about to break spectacularly. She sat down next to Darwin stiffly and remained silent. She knew that if she tried to speak, the dam would bust. Darwin laid a hoof over her shoulder.

“What’s going on?” he asked cautiously as he sensed something was wrong.

Daring just shook her head slightly and stared at the pendulum under the clock. The clock ticked away every single second, which Jack could have died. She braced herself as she knew the damn would no longer hold what she had denied for so long.

“I need to tell you something,” she said to Darwin, her voice trembling.

“Yes?”

Daring blurted out everything that the receptionist had told her and then collapsed into him, her body wracked with uncontrollable sobs. She really wished she could have treated him nicer, in the few days’ time she had known him for.

A doctor wearing a white coat approached them. He just sat down next to Daring as he flipped through his papers. Daring sensed his presence and looked at him with bloodshot eyes.

“Well, we have some good news and some bad news, which one first?”

“Bad news,” answered Daring her voice wavering.

“Ok, bad news is that Jackson will not be able to walk for three days and also will not be able to physically exert himself for two weeks.”

Daring couldn’t believe what the doctor had said, “What? Is he alive?”

“Yes, he is and now he is in a stable condition. You can visit him. That’s the good news.”

Daring stared for a few moments.

“Were you the one who performed the surgery?”

“Yes. Yes, I was.”

Daring looked at him for a second before crushing him in a hug.

“Thank you so much.”

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

Daring walked down the white hall. She finally found Jack’s room, room 517. She opened the door and looked at the bed. Jack was awake, with a drip in his left leg and reading a magazine. Daring entered and closed the door as softly as possible albeit in Darwin’s face. She trotted softly next to him and ponced like a lion onto its prey.

“Woah!” exclaimed Jack.

Daring crushed him in a hug, tears streaming down her face.

“You’re all right!”

“Of course I am,” replied Jack.

“I thought you died!” she replied.

“Do not ever think of anything like that again, ok?” Jack told her firmly, “I will be with you forever to the end.”

She found herself comfortable in his arms. A comfort she had never experienced before. A spark was ignited inside her that nothing could put out. She looked up into Jack’s brown, confident eyes.

“Me too,” she whispered as she drew closer to him, feeling his warmth against her fur.

The moment ended when Darwin came in with a giant book in his hooves. ‘Celestia dammit,’ she thought mentally when he came in. He just had to ruin the moment didn’t he? Darwin sat in a chair next to the bed, occupied by Jack and Daring, hanging off slightly.

“Are you ok?” he asked timidly.

“Yes I am.”

“By the way,” said Jack, “where is my stuff?”

“Oh don’t worry, all back at my apartment.”

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

Jack walked into the small, cosy apartment, where Darwin stayed during his research. Jack slumped down onto a large sofa at the edge of the living room. Daring followed suite. Darwin went into his spare bedroom and took out their things. Jack felt good with his revolver back to where it should be.

“Do you have a place to stay for the night?” asked Darwin.

“Yes, at a motel we booked into four days ago (I really have lost track of time. Four days is an estimate.),” said Daring.

“Do you want me to bring your stuff over from there? You can stay here for the time being. It’s free of charge.”

“Sure!”

Darwin flew out of the window into the air as Jack dozed on the sofa leaving Daring all alone. Daring felt like a broken record, she could not go to sleep and her mind wandered through the darkest alleys.

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

― *Dr. Seuss***

Daring knew what sensation she was feeling, an unquenchable desire. It was a feeling she could never confess to anypony, otherwise she knew her enemies would use it against her. They will try to break her with the ultimate power if they knew. This divine power is the strongest power ponykind has ever known. One word. Love.

Love is like a river. Ever flowing, never ending. Rivers pool into lakes. The lakes will overflow one day. That is when you can’t think of anything else. Anything else but that pony. That is when you will know that you are in true love.

Chapter XI

CHAPTER XI

Jack woke up in a bed. Not a hospital bed but a much more comfortable one. He couldn’t remember anything after he passed out due to lack of blood. He felt around him gingerly with his hooves. ‘Ok, right side seems to be the edge of the bed,’ he thought. Jack rolled over to the left since the edge of the bed felt so close. He felt something soft against his chest.

Jack rolled his eyes. ‘Why does this happen to me every time I wake up after something bad has happened?’ he asked himself. He was pretty sure what this fluffy object was. He swung around back to the right in the pitch black room and read the glowing clock which was the only light source. 2:58am. Jack attempted to roll back to the left but instantly felt the warmth again. ‘Really?’ he fumed (he didn’t yell aloud because he also cared about somepony else’s sleep, unlike some ponies), ‘Why does she have to take up ninety per cent of the bed?’

Jack slowly lifted his covers. It was a cold night for sure. He walked around to the other side of the bed which was completely ‘Daring free.’ He laid himself down onto the soft mattress and stared at the ceiling. He tried to sleep but it just wasn’t working. Soon to his right, he heard a loud thump. Jack quickly turned on the bed lamp to find Daring trying to get up.

“Really?” was all Jack could say. He rolled his eyes.

“Why are you on this side of the bed now?” she asked.

“Well because you shift beside me until there is no more room for me to go to sleep in.”

She grinned sheepishly.

“You’re a source of warmth,” was all she said.

“So you’re using me?” Jack asked.

“Hmmm?” she asked totally oblivious to what Jack had asked her.

“Good god you are hard,” Jack fumed, “I’m just trying to sleep for crying out loud!”

Daring just stood in the cold air, looking at Jack questioningly. ‘That was a stupid comment. Dammit brain!’ she thought trying to keep her face void of emotions. Jack just simply lay back down and turned off the light. Daring did the same a few moments later. She kept what he said in her mind.

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

Jack woke up again, the crack in the curtains let in a very dim blue light. The clock read 5:43am. He passed what happened last night as a dream but he felt something against him. It was like Daring was trying to force her presence on him ever since he nearly died in a temple. He knew why Daring was doing it after a long think. Only if he could only feel the same way for her as she did to him.

Daring was curled up against him as she dozed lightly. Jack could only think of one thing to do before the day came. It was to touch Daring’s chest. Yes, it might sound weird it struck a strange sense of comfort into Jack. It was so new that he even had a friend to travel with. Jack reached a hoof onto Daring’s fur and started working his way there. Three inches… two inches… almost…

“You like it?” she asked suddenly.

Jack recoiled with a horrified look on his face and jumped out of her reach. He decided swiftly that the best course of action to take was to: get up, have a shower, get his bandages changed, go talk to Daring about it. Jack tried to get out of bed to follow his plan.

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going mister?”

Jack thought about his course of action. Well… might as well get it out of the way.

“So…” Jack trailed off.

“I need to tell you something, but you must never tell anyone what I will say to you today right this moment,” said Daring very seriously.

“Yes, go on.”

“I…” Daring trailed off

“I didn’t hear, what?”

“Nevermind.”

Jack sighed and walked over to the window, looking at the bustling city bathed in the golden morning light. All seemed calm. Too calm. Jack was used to a life of danger, nothing like this.

“So… How long do I have until my body recovers?” asked Jack.

“Two weeks, doc said you will be fine to go in one and a half.”

Two weeks of sitting around doing nothing but reading and doing boring things like that. Jack just dropped onto the bed again. It was frustrating. Whenever he was with Daring, things like this happen. It’s not like she was a bad omen, no. It was because she had so many enemies. Competitors who wanted power over the world. She had no such desire, just to keep the artefacts safe.

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

Jack found Daring at the table, studying a new piece of parchment he has never seen before. The writing was ancient, with characters that had weird dashes and swirls. Daring looked like she was absorbed in it. Darwin was sitting opposite of Daring, reading the newspaper named ‘The Eastern Post.’ Jack just silently sat down in the empty chair.

“Oh hello, my name is Darwin! I work at the biology lab in the Great Oteron Jungle.” said Darwin enthusiastically.

“Jack’s mine,” said Jack, noticing that Darwin had never introduced himself before.

“Hungry?” queried Darwin.

“Positively starving!” replied Jack.

Darwin went into the kitchen and brought out a dish of eggs and toast. It looked great. Jack was grateful for the offer of shelter and food by Darwin. Jack dug in to the toast as Darwin disappeared into his study, a shabby old room lined with bookshelves filled with old, dusty books and books scattered the floor and desk. Darwin reappeared in a few minutes with a dusty old book, bound with thick leather. Jack looked up at it. The title read; The Anatomia Atlas.

Darwin opened the book, sending dust flying everywhere. He flipped around until he found the page and showed it to Jack. The title read; Sanguinem. Latin for blood. Darwin looked through the pages and rambled on about how blood loss can affect the body and how.

“I think that is enough learning for one day,” spoke a very annoyed Daring.

Both Jack and Darwin chuckled.

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

Well this chapter may be a bit boring but it is a bridge to connect the two ends of the exciting story. You can’t wait can you? :D

Chapter XIII

CHAPTER XIII

“Wow… This place is truly massive!” Jack gaped as Daring led him up the white marble steps to the large white palace, basking in Celestia’s sunlight. The front doors were gilded and gleaming in a rich gold colour. The doors were thick. As much as one hoof now he saw them closely. The inside was almost twice as grand as the front wall. A marble floor with giant curved staircases with the finest carved marble railings. Jack stood wide eyed at the pure grandeur he beheld.

Daring grabbed Jack by his forehoof and hurried him off to the right. The walls were draped in thick tapestries and frames of unfamiliar ponies that had a significant influence on Equestria. Jack hurried and caught up with Daring. They walked up to a large oaken door carved with so much intricacy that it would take decades to look at all the nooks and crannies of the carvings.

Daring pushed the door open. It opened to a world Jack never thought he would ever get to know. The floor was covered with thick velvet carpets. Banners of Luna and Celestia were hung in the main walkway. It was completely silent. The bookshelves of old oak were tens of metres high with hundreds of thousands of books. Sone of the books looked spectacularly old while other looked like they were in complete pristine condition.

It was a librarian’s dream. Daring quickly gestured for Jack to follow her. He obliged. She led him to one of the darkest crevices of the library and flew to the top shelf, looking carefully as she skimmed many layers of shelves. Each and every book in this section looked ancient with leather bindings falling off. She scoured that specific shelf carefully. She finally came to a stop and drew out a book that was literally grey with dust. She blew on the cover hard. Dust scattered to the ground in thick layers.

Daring flew down to Jack looking satisfied with herself and returned to the sunlit section of the library and found herself a seat. Jack did the same. She opened the book, revealing a title that was written in flowing letters. ‘The Artefacts of the Ancients.’ She opened up to a specific page. Page 1074. The pages were so thin it was surprising to see more than ninety per cent was untorn.

The chapter she was looking at was written about the amulet they had been trying to hunt for. The Terra Elemental. That exact moment was when Celestia showed up casually. (Yes this Fic is going to expand on the character selection now :D) She looked down at the companions, a slight frown on her face and ethereal mane flowing as normal.

“May I inquire who is this you’ve picked up, Daring Do?” she said softly.

“Oh, a companion of mine,” said Daring casually.

Jack slowly turned to face the Goddess. He knew Daring must be good friends with her. Anypony who had the nerve to speak to her like that would be certainly thrown into the dungeon under the palace.

“Erm… Hello your majesty,” Jack bowed respectfully.

He was surprised when Celestia scowled at him.

“There is no need to bow to me like that, though I appreciate it. Any friend of Daring’s is a friend of mine,” she declared.

This was an awkward situation for Jack to be in. He was in front of royalty. And she just told him not to bow. What?! His brain went into overdrive, displaying a confused look on his face.

“Well, I have no need to be here. I was just going to return some books early,” she said, “And Jack. Please don’t be confused. I’ve only asked of you something simple,” she chuckled.

Celestia disappeared as fast as she had appeared. ‘What?’ Jack thought. He looked back at Daring who was now focused on her book again. He glanced at the doors swiftly. There was no one there. Daring closed her book and headed to the desk. Jack followed. She returned the book to the librarian, who was dressed in white robes.

“Well, how about we look around Canterlot for a few days?” she asked.

“Ok.”

Daring pulled Jack along. It was a Monday. Everyone was at work so the streets were fairly uncongested. Canterlot architecture was truly stunning. Every building had a coat of gold on its support beams that shone in the sun radiantly. Daring took him to what he could only describe to himself as a ‘shopper’s paradise.’ The streets were lined with stores. A large sign at the end of the road proclaimed, ‘High Street.’ Commercial business was doing quite well here.

Daring took Jack through most of the important streets, giving a brief tour. It was only midday but by the end of the tour, it was sunset. The companions heard a swish of wings opening behind them. They turned around. ‘Why am I so lucky today?’ thought Jack.

The dark blue alicorn looked at Daring questioningly.

“Oh hi Luna,” said Daring cheerfully.

“Greetings my friend,” she said grandly, “and subject,” she added.

“What brings you here to us?” Daring queried.

“Hath our ears fail us?” she asked.

“Oh!” Daring squeaked, “Umm… Luna, this is Jackson, my companion. Jack, this is Luna, Princess of the night.”

Luna looked satisfied. “Well, we shalt now return to our watch. It is our duty. Farewell, Jackson my friend. We trow that we shall meet again!”

With that, she was gone. Jack had such good luck today. Meeting two princesses? Really? It was an exhausting day nonetheless. Jack followed her to her cottage. Through the garden they went. Almost a minute passed when there was a knock at the door.

“Who could that be?” Daring thought aloud.

She opened the door to find a rainbow coloured mare looking straight at her.

“Oh hi, Daring,” she quipped, “I hope you remember me.”

“Uhh… Yeah, I do Dash. What business do you have here? And how did you find me?” Daring said cautiously.

“Well, can I come in first?” she asked.

“Ye – Without a full reply she dashed towards the couch and slammed into something soft.

“Who’s that?” she exclaimed, putting emphasis on ‘who.’

“A friend of mine.”

“Cool!”

“Now how did you find me?” Daring inquired.

“Well, I saw you when I was flying around town. I was going to go to Soarin’s place but I saw you. It’s not every day when you see Daring Do is it?”

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

Jack was exhausted after the energetic rainbow mare had gone. Who in the world was that? Apparently she went travelling with Daring before and saved her? It just didn’t make any sense. It was the end of another exciting day. Great!

“We’ll be going to Ponyville tomorrow.”

“Where’s that?”

Chapter XIV

CHAPTER XIV

The two companions arrived at a shabby little station on the edge of town. The only prominent thing was the town hall which stood proud and tall in the midst of all the houses with rooves of yellow thatch. They walked off the platform onto a narrow gravel road that carried them pass a giant apple orchard to town centre.

Lush green trees that looked relatively well kept were planted to either side of the road. The town looked peaceful, although it was a Monday. They trotted swiftly down the little path, headed to the inn. Apparently, the ancient scripts spoke of a future where the Amulet would lie in the Everfree Forest. It was the best guess they had.

The inn was a shaggy little place. It was built with different architecture to the other houses around. It had dark timber supports that were very rough and prominent. It didn’t look like anything Jack knew. It was darker than Caranda logs. The roof was made of wooden planks, a much sturdier material than thatch.

They walked into the lobby. No, not a lobby. It’s a bar. The room was dark, even though windows scattered the walls. Inside stood tables and chairs and a bar in the very centre. Daring and Jack picked up a room on the second floor. The room was cosy. The window faced the town hall. Upon close inspection. The roof was a deep maroon. Not brown. Quite a strange colour to paint a roof. Daring and Jack stepped outside of the inn.

“It’s not even midday. Let’s check out the Everfree. Consider it a scouting mission,” said Daring.

“All right,” replied Jack, “I am so bored right now.”

Daring led him through the centre of town. It looked like a nice country village. The inhabitants looked nice enough. There were even markets set up. On a Monday! Sunday markets were practically unheard of in Canterlot, and this place has a Monday market? All the houses looked very similar. The same structure, but slightly different in shape and whatnot.

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

The Everfree looked dark and ominous as the companions approached it. The canopy was so thick that barely any light got through to the ground. Wild ferns grew rampant. The ground was moist as a result of the sun not being able to penetrate the thick layers of Everfree leaves with its radiant light.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go in quickly and get out,” said Daring confidently.

Jack followed obediently but he dared not make a sound. It felt like thousands of little eyes were staring at his soul. Jack walked mutely for a few minutes before he heard a rustle in the foliage to the right of him. Jack stumbled a little, in anticipation for what was about to happen. Daring sensed his hesitation and looked at where the bush rustles herself. There were many tales about the Everfree. It was a place of darkness and evil. It was untamed and ruthless. The monsters of dreams lived here, and feeds on the darkness.

Jack pulled out his rifle from under his trench coat. He lowered himself and braced for what was coming. Daring did the same, drawing her revolver. The rustling became more apparent and closer. The ferns were whistling with the wind. It was coming for them. BAM! A pony dressed in only what could be described as a Wonderbolts costume but grey and yellow appeared out of nowhere, jumping out at tremendous speeds.

“Who are you?” Daring asked with a snarl.

“None of your business. What are you here for?” he demanded.

Daring didn’t say anything. She just bit her lip and frowned slightly.

“Exactly,” he said as if he made his point.

He drew his sword threateningly, with a metallic scraping.

“I know what you’re here for. And you’re going to pay with your life for it!”

He charged. Such a foolish move. Daring fired a shot from her revolver. The charging stallion swung his sword to deflect the bullet. The bullet ricocheted off the sword with a clang and hit a nearby tree.

“Holy Celestia!” Daring yelped as he came closer and closer.

Jack quickly switched weapons. A rifle would not be good against a pony with such good reflects. He pulled out his revolver. Loading it with one of his phoenix rounds. He took careful aim, not wanting to miss with one of six unique shots. He sweated as he was ready to pull the trigger. The stallion was closing in. Fast.

The trigger pull did not result in an explosion. The firing pin slammed into the bullet. Time moved slowly. The bullet burst into grand orange flames and burst out of the barrel with a whoosh, not a bang. The majestic orange tracer formed into the shape of a phoenix for just a second. The stallion reared as the shot came closer to him. He swung his sword desperately at the phoenix round.

Fire erupted into his body when he attempted to deflect the round. A burst of magic pierced his heart as crimson blood poured and stained his coat, but instantly burned by the flames. Jack looked around in shock and horror, finally seeing how destructive this weapon really was. Daring looked at him in shock, wide eyed and mouth agape.

Caught in the moment. Daring struggled to comprehend what happened to her has two fellows of the fallen stallion quickly bound her in ropes. Jack had to act quickly. He didn’t load a full magazine of the special round, and thus he fired his normal rounds at the ponies. They scampered. Jack gave chase.

Low hanging branches were the hunter’s worst enemy. Jack ducked and weaved through the Everfree, in pursuit of the ponies who took her. They took Daring! Why? They were soon nowhere to be found. Jack fell onto his back. Shedding tears of agony. What happened that turned his life into hell?

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

Jack was rushing back to Ponyville, having witnessed something of pure evil. Revenge was on his mind. He was being consumed by the darkness. What went so wrong? Was it my fault? Why did they do that? He galloped as swiftly as the wind through the streets. He was going to find help.

A rainbow coloured streak was in his peripheral vision. Oh, could it be her? Jack prayed to the heavens it was. He slowed to a stop and turned around. It was her! He knew he had to act fast. Heaven knows what those ponies were doing to Daring. The cyan pegasus had a shadow of a frown on her face. She could sense something was wrong.

“You have to help me!” exclaimed Jack breathlessly, “They took her into the Everfree!”

Her eyes widened in understanding.

“Come on, follow me,” she commanded.

Jack followed her to a giant tree. A sign said ‘Golden Oak Library.’ Why would we be going to a god damned library? Dash knocked on the hard. A lavender unicorn answered.

“Oh hey Da – who the hell is that!” she demanded to Dash.

“A friend of mine, look. We need help right now. Apparently the entity in the Everfree has commanded its ranks to hunt Daring Do. She is currently captive.”

The librarian’s eyes widened in understanding.

“Come in guys, we’ll resolve this issue.”

Chapter XV

CHAPTER XV

The lavender unicorn revealed her name to be Twilight Sparkle. She was student of Princess Celestia herself. Jack managed to calm down enough to explain the whole course of events to her. She asked for every little fact and detail. Probably just to paint a clearer picture. It soon became late afternoon when the pair finished discussing. Orange rays of the sun pierced the round windows that were supported by peculiar lead frames.

“Come back tomorrow at midday. I’m sure I will make a plan,” said Twilight. She started to walk upstairs and stretched the wings that Jack had missed before. That made her royal. An alicorn as a symbol of royalty.

“Y-you… princess?” Jack spluttered.

Twilight giggled at Jack’s consternation.

“It’s nothing. You didn’t need to call me princess or bow to me. I’m not into that stuff,” she said, giving Jack a wink.

Jack walked back to the Inn. He passed through the centre of the town this time. The town hall was taller than he imagined. He trotted through the central road towards his inn. He was feeling anxious, about what had happened today. He was especially troubled by what Twilight had told him about the Everfree. The whole forest was out of control. It had already tried to take over Ponyville before. Now there is believed to be an entity in the forest, controlling many forces, including a mercenary force of pegasi.

He was thinking of dark thoughts as he walked into the inn. He didn’t feel hungry that night. He walked up stiffly to his room and pulled out his key. He sat curled up in bed looking at the moon.

‘What went so wrong?’ he asked himself, ‘Where did it go so damn wrong?’

He recalled the horrific events. What are they currently doing to Daring. What were they doing to his Daring? It was the first time he felt any strong urge to arrive by her side, to tell her everything would be ok. That was a lie. Everything was never ok. He felt broken. Nothing except her could fix it.

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

Daring looked up from her cell. She was chained onto her bed and could only move a few metres away from it. The cell was painted a shiny grey colour. This cell was constructed of concrete. A glass of water sat on a metal stand next to her bed. What had happened earlier that day? A stallion in a white coat approached her cell. Stopping her from thinking about Jack but now about the syringe he held in his hoof.

“Now don’t worry, captive. I’m just taking a blood sample,” he said.

Daring bit at him but his magic paralysed her. It took all her willpower to move her limb out of the way. The stallion stuck the syringe into her hoof and withdrew a full load of the crimson liquid. What was she here for? Daring felt claustrophobic in such a cell. She knew that Jack would come for her… Eventually.

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

It was midday. The sun was beaming down onto the small town. Jack didn’t get any sleep that night. Too worried about somepony who cared for him and he cared for. He absentmindedly walked over to the large tree. This time, he was not in such a rush and took in the sight for a brief minute. It was a large oak with twisting branches and a balcony situated on the side of the tree with a telescope set up on it. It didn’t look like a bad place to live.

Jack knocked on the door. Twilight answered almost instantly. She opened the door wide with her magic, letting Jack in. She gestured for him to sit down. Jack did so obediently. Twilight closed the door softly and faced him.

“Well, I’ve written to Celestia,” she told Jack, “She knows Daring knows some confidential information. She doesn’t want it slipping to unworthy hooves.”

“Well, how are we going to get her back?” questioned Jack.

“Well, the Princess is dispatching a wing of Wonderbolts to the scene. Apparently they have scouted the area before for her,” informed Twilight.

“What are we going to do then?”

“We will wait for the ‘bolts to show up and see what information they have. Then we can conduct an operation.”

Jack sighed, a weight on his chest had been lifted and handed over to somepony else. He trotted over to the couch and lay on it, nearly dozing off.

“Had a bad night?” queried Twilight.

“Yup. Didn’t even get to sleep.”

Jack closed his eyes briefly. It wouldn’t hurt to doze for a few hours, right? Wrong! A loud knocking on the door awakened him from a deep slumber. He walked over to the door sluggishly and turned the handle. Agonizingly slow. First thing he felt was being blasted away from the door, the knocker had swung the door open.

“Oof,” Jack grunted.

A group of five pegasi trotted into the room when Twilight herself came down from upstairs.

“Oh hello Commander!” she said cheerfully.

“It’s nothing but bad news,” replied a mare with a fiery mane in quite a harsh voice, “They had anti-air weapons activated, like they were expecting us. Two of us are crippled,” she gestured to a white maned mare, who was limping into the doorway and another yellow mare who collapsed on the floor. The others only have slight grazes.

Twilight stared at the pony who talked.

“Oh you want the info on our scouting mission eh? Well, at least we found their compound. Its stuck right in the centre of the Everfree. No sign of Daring Do though.”

She glanced at the floor beneath her. Jack struggled up, dazed from the impact.

“I’m sorry,” she stated simply without any emotion in her voice.

“Well, how does the idea of being acquainted with Jack sound. He is the pony who was travelling around with Daring for the past few weeks,” suggested Twilight, “Maybe it’s for the best.”

“Oh all right,” said the mare gruffly.

“Well, my name is Commander Spitfire, commander of the Wonderbolts, this is Soarin,” she waved her hoof at a light blue stallion with a navy blue mane, “this is Fleetfoot,” she motioned at the crippled mare with the white mane, “this is Blaze,” she pointed at the collapsed pony, “and this Misty Fly,” she pointed at the pony with a light blue mane, “Done!”

“My name is Jackson Wanderer. It is a privilege to meet you,” Jack stated firmly.

“Well of course is a privilege, were only just the best fliers in Equestria!” groaned Fleetfoot.

“Well Fleets, at least you don’t have a broken sense of humour!” Spitfire chuckled.

“When have I ever Spits?” she shot back.

Soarin rolled his eyes and trotted next to Jack, “This is what it’s like to be the only stallion in the group,” he said sarcastically and unnecessarily loudly.

All the mares stopped gossiping and looked at Soarin with bored stares.

“Always trying to ruin the moment, eh?” said Misty.

“What?” exclaimed Soarin bewilderedly.

“You know, I swear we are professional comedians,” Spitfire nudged Jack.

Chapter XVI

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.

Chapter XVII

CHAPTER XVII

Twilight repeated her plans to Dash, skipping the minor details to keep it brief. The sun was already at its apex and was starting to fall slowly down to the western horizon. Dash nodded eagerly while Soarin draped a wing around her. It took a while to answer all Dash’s questions. They were basic things like, “What happens if one of us gets shot or wounded,” and whatnot.

Finally, after some tens of minutes of explaining, everypony was ready to go. The clunk of rifles sounded through the jungle. Twilight gave Dash her revolver that she concealed earlier that morning. The band trotted through the Everfree to the reported location of the compound. Fleetfoot recalled there being a small hill in front of the compound. They spend one tiring hour to reach the edge of a clearing. Tall concrete walls loomed over them. Time to get the plan rolling.

Jack trotted swiftly but silently to the reported location of the small hill. Thank Celestia it was actually there. He bent the front stands on his .60cal rifle forwards and balanced it on the ground. He took out his ammunition box and loaded a round into the sniper rifle, his hoof on the trigger, his eyes glaring down the scope. He surveyed the area quickly, noticing he was in a great position to give supporting fire.

The main group however moved into the bushes right on the edge of the clearing. Spitfire saw the guards patrolling on the concrete structure. The mechanical and magical defences were aimed at the air. On cue, she opened fire onto the closest guard pony. He toppled, stained with blood.

Other defenders rushed to the scene, guns ready and pointed at the ground. A terrifying bang blared from the bushes in the hill, on the right of the group. The resonating rumble echoed in the air. Two guardsponies fell to the ground with sickening cracks.

“Let’s go team!” commanded Spitfire, “Open fire!”

The five Wonderbolts leaped into the air, quickly taking aim with their rifles. They only had a magazine of seven each. Every shot must count. The defences nestled on the compound swung downwards.

“Get in!” shouted Twilight as the magic turrets began to charge and the mechanical ones, reload.

Jack strapped his rifle onto him and took out his revolver. He made a dash for the giant metal doors as Twilight cast a spell of mass destruction, melting the iron. Jack galloped into the hallway, followed closely by the Wonderbolts.

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

“Well, well, well… Looks like your puny little friends are here to save you Daring Do,” spat Dark Flames, the boss of the facility, “We shall extract some information from you first.”

A metal rod was lowered to Daring’s chest. She felt it buzz. A sudden zap of electricity blasted from the rod. Daring screamed in agony.

“Where are my artefacts,” he snarled.

“You… will… never… know!” shouted Daring shouted between gasps of pain. The leather straps were restraining her.

“Very well. Let’s see how long you last versus how long your friends take to get here, eh?” he said viciously.

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

Jack fanned his revolver at the cluster of ponies situated outside of a locked room. Everypony fired. The close cluster resulted in no missed shots (missed shots would just hit the ponies around the target). The echo of firearms in the hall was bewildering. The ponies who were shooting back were very poorly trained, but the numbers compensated for that.

“Oof!” exclaimed Dash as she fell to the floor, limp.

Twilight wanted to help her but she was in the front line. There was no retreating now. Soarin however, being the tallest pony was firing from the back of the band. He flew swiftly down the hall. The recoil on these magic weapons were absolutely massive. He landed next to Dash and surveyed the damage. There was a large wound on her inner thigh on the left hind leg. Soarin bit his lip and grasped a spare rag from the stash of thing he keeps under his wings for an emergency and tied it onto her leg. He then proceeded to hurl Dash onto his back and flew back to the scene.

The enemy’s dwindling numbers provoked a charge led by Spitfire. The remaining few were wiped out of existence and Twilight busted into the room. There were at least seven doors here. Which one is correct? As soon as the band stepped in, hidden turrets opened fire with stunning accuracy. Fortunately, these turrets were designed to incapacitate, not kill. Spitfire, Fleetfoot, Blaze and Misty were crippled by the blasts to their legs and their crimson blood leaked from their wounds onto the metal floor. Twilight magically pulled the batteries from the turrets, knowing this design because it was used widely in Canterlot. The turrets stopped firing and jammed.

“Anypony still able to walk needs to check these doors. I will attend to the injured,” commanded Twilight. She kneeled in front of the struck Wonderbolts and pulled gauze bandages from her saddlebags. She took out any shrapnel from the wounds and wrapped them in the bandages, to stop anymore bleeding for the mean time. Soarin carried Dash into the room and rested her in a corner and started barging into the rooms one by one.

“Aha!” shouted Jack as he found a room with prison cells.

“You guys stay here, alright?” asked Twilight. She got nods from the downed.

Jack entered first, then followed by Soarin and Twilight. He spotted two doors in the far wall of the prison chamber. Jack checked the first one, nopony was there. He was alerted by a scream of agony residing from the second room.

“She’s in there! Come on!” shouted Jack.

Soarin opened the door as the three ponies busted in. Two turrets immediately opened up at Jack and Soarin, because of their larger size. Twilight expertly pulled the batteries from the turrets and turned to the black unicorn with a fiery mane standing behind the table, which held Daring captive, a rod with sparks of electricity zapping her every few seconds.

“Kill me, know that this facility is linked to my life and the destruction of me will unleash the wrath inside me,” the stallion said mystically.

Jack couldn’t bear to see Daring such a state. Her unconscious body still tensing to the electricity running through her. He lashed out in blind rage and pinned the unicorn to the wall.

“Keep him there,” Jack commanded Twilight who obeyed as her magic flickered on to pin the unicorn onto the wall.

Jack searched the room for a switch or button to stop the electricity. After an eternity, he found a lever that was marked with the word, ‘electricity,’ and pulled it up. The rod stopped zapping. He found himself unstrapping the leather restraints on the table that held Daring down. He caught her on his back as she slumped off the table.

“We will take him to the gaol,” Jack said to Twilight.

Twilight nodded in acknowledgement and swung the black unicorn upside down, then cuffing his hooves with magic. Twilight levitated him along with her. The victorious trio left the forsaken room and met up with the Wonderbolts again.

“You can fly, right?” asked Twilight.

“Yes we can,” Spitfire replied.

Soarin picked up Dash and slumped her onto his back again.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

The band opened the door to the hall.

“Sweet Celestia, they moved a cannon down into the hall! Split!” barked Spitfire.

The band of ponies split into two lines, moving close to the wall.

Jack loaded one his five phoenix rounds that he had left and pulled the trigger at the cannon before it could fire. The explosion of golden light shone in the hallway, the bullet turning into a fiery phoenix, soaring towards the cannon. The phoenix hit with great force and exploded the giant metal structure to shreds, the ponies behind were vaporized by the sheer heat of the explosion. Dust filled the hallway.

All went dark. Pain dominated the senses. There might never be another tomorrow…

Chapter XVIII

CHAPTER XVIII

Jack woke up in a dimly lit hallway. No. The hallway. Dried blood caked the floor and grey dust settled into heaps. He tried to move his limbs to get up. A pain shot through his body. He was physically broken, and mentally. What happened the day before? All he could remember was a cannon, then an explosion of light. His eyes scanned the immediate area around him. He found Daring laying limp next to him, and Spitfire laying under s mall piece of rubble.

“Hello? Guys?” Jack called desperately.

A series of groans echoed through the hall as a few ponies woke up, and stumbled in the dim hallway. The roof had caved in in front of them and blocked the exit/entrance. Twilight assisted Soarin to his hooves and rushed to the rest of the Wonderbolts. Their bandages what covered their deep wounds were soaked in blood, now dried.

The band seemed fine, except for Jack and Daring, both of which were lying on the floor. Twilight swiftly flew over to Jack and examined the damage. Her face scrunched up in concentration, as violet strands of magic flew liberally from her horn down to the aching limb. It was painful, yes, but Twilight assured Jack that it would mend his fracture.

As Twilight tended to Jack’s ailments, the ‘bolts were discussing in hushed voices. They were completely trapped in the building. The stairs to the top of the compound were on the other side of the pile of rubble. There was enough rubble there to fill landfills! The roof was stable for the time being.

Twilight was thinking to herself. There was a great cave system under the Everfree that somehow joined to the mine on the edge of Ponyville. It was long abandoned and the supports must be rusting but it was their only hope. Twilight saw a flight of stairs leading down to a rough stony floor when she came into the facility. It was right next to the door that led into the turreted room.

Twilight finished her mending spell with a zap to the leg. Jack yelped in surprise and jumped up. He kneeled next to Daring and lifted a hoof to her nose, monitoring breathing. There was a slight draw and release of air but Jack doubted it was enough. He needed to get her to a medical station very soon.

“Come on guys! I’ve figured out a way,” called Twilight as she led the band down the flight of stairs into the cave. Twilight illuminated her horn while Jack pulled out his flint and steel and lit a small stick he found lying in the corner. The band trudged unconfidently through the dark caves. Twilight used her echo magic to paint an ok picture of the cave.

Suddenly, Misty fell to her hooves, a small bolt wedged in her legs. It caused calamity in the band of ponies. Jack stayed calm, and pulled out his revolver, loading the cylinder with normal shells. A blur of green dropped in front of the band, they were holding crude stone weapons like spears and axes.

“Defend!” barked Spitfire as the Wonderbolts fumbled with their rifles. The green things, now identified as cave goblins were closing in fast. Jack made every shot count. Even while carrying Daring on his back, he was capable of shooting accurately. The goblins scattered and the group pushed on. They needed to get into town, all were worn and torn by this mission.

“Come on!” shouted Twilight, “The end is near!”

The band galloped in the ever narrowing cave until they hit a section with metal supports and mouldy handles of old rusting pickaxes.

“We’re finally home!” shouted Fleetfoot happily, “And also, where our prisoner?”

Jack stumbled around to see him nowhere.

“Dammit, he got away in the blast,” said Soarin disappointedly.

The blinding rays of the sun and the endless blue sky greeted the group as they emerged from an old mineshaft. This was the first time Jack noticed how exhausted he was. He followed the group that led them to the medical clinic and he stumbled every few steps, due to fatigue. All he could feel right now was aching bones and a nauseous mind.

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

Jack woke up in a bed. Not the cold floor anymore. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a hospital, with heartrate monitors set up and tubes carrying an unknown liquid into his system. Everything was white except for the curtains which were light blue. He could see no one.

“Hello?” he called with a broken voice that could barely be heard.

Twilight burst into Jack’s space, “Thank Celestia you’re all right!”

“Where’s Daring? Is everypony else all right?” Jack machine gunned the questions at Twilight before she had time to respond.

“Ok, first thing’s first. Daring is in the bed next to you on the right. We were lucky that we got a private ward. The ‘bolts and Dash are on the left. And please let me finish before you ask another question,” said Twilight

Twilight explained what happened in the cave and gave a concise recap of everything.

“Daring’s fine, she just got a bit of a shock!” Twilight grinned.

“Do you want to see her?” Twilight asked after a period of silence.

“Yes!”

Twilight swiftly turned and ducked out of view. Hospitals were never comfortable, and why did they have to put the air conditioning on every damn minute in a day? It was these little things that sometimes made life hell. He could hear the clatter of hooves trotting towards him. He saw Daring for a moment before she pulled Jack in for a hug. Twilight just disappeared, to give the companions some personal space.

“I knew you wouldn’t leave me behind,” said Daring, muffled by Jack’s fur.

Jack just simply sat there, savouring the moment.

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

Twilight moved towards Dash’s bed, ducking into the curtains. She saw the cyan mare reading a Daring Do book. She chuckled lightly to herself. She sat down in the chair beside her bed. Dash dropped her book and looked at Twilight, expecting her to say something.

“You know, she’s right there,” Twilight pointed to roughly where Jack’s bed was concealed behind the curtains.

“I’ll let her be,” Dash sighed.

She placed her book on the table beside her bed. Dash only got minor injuries like scrapes and bruises and a concussion from a piece of rubble hitting her head. How she managed to keep up with the band of Wonderbolts, she will never know. She stepped down to the cold hospital floor and walked towards where Soarin was resting. She walked through the curtains and found Soarin laying on his bed. She sat down on the mattress and looked into his eyes.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Well,” grunted Soarin in pain, “Why don’t you get off my leg.”

“Sorry.”

“That’s better.”

“So, how are you,” asked Dash.

“Well, look at me. I broke my right hind leg because of the damned roof falling. How did I manage to go through that cave?” she said gruffly.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” said Dash in a quizzical voice.

“Oh come here!” Soarin growled playfully, “You know why you came here!”

Soarin sat up in his bed and Dash leaned in. He cast his strong forehooves around her. Dash was content, even in a time of such confusion and catastrophe. Dash relaxed and let go of the world around her. As much as she’s concerned this was the universe for the present.

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

Twilight walked to the window. Where was the black unicorn? He must’ve slipped away when the roof collapsed, but how? How did he get away?

Chapter XIX

CHAPTER XIX

It was around midday. Twilight pulled the curtains away from each of the hospital beds so all the ponies could have a good look at how pathetic they were and have a good laugh about it, at least, that was the idea. Twilight was chiming into the conversation whenever possible but keeping a lookout next to the window. As the friends chatted away, the sun slowly lowered until it was barely keeping float on the horizon.

Orange rays busted through holes in clouds, completing the picturesque sunset. The rough mountains of the west soon swallowed the sun, the world trapped in a twilight. The sky was pink and shifting towards dark blue in the east. The mountains provided a black bumpy background to the town of Ponyville.

Jack looked at the tan coloured pegasus sleeping next to him, stroking her mane. It felt good to be around her again. Jack looked across the room at Twilight, who was still sitting at the window, watching the moon and stars. Night came upon them much more quickly than they estimated. Soon, the room was pitch black, except for the silvery moonlight streaming in from the window.

“Twilight?” Jack asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’m just looking out for you guys, you know, the press and evil unicorns trying to bust into the hospital,” Twilight said completely seriously.

“What? Why?” asked Jack.

“Well somepony has to do it,” she sighed.

“Hey come over here, let’s have a chat!” said Spitfire, “It’s not every day that I see a princess.”

Dash rolled her eyes, “Well, you see them every month for air shows.”

“With all due respect Ms. Know-it-all, shut up,” replied Spitfire, getting giggles and nods of approval from other squad members.

Twilight trotted over to Jack’s bed and sat on the chair next to it, glaring at Spitfire. It looked like she was about to say something before a beam of red magic shattered the glass. Twilight quickly walked over to the window to find a whole army of pegasi on the border of the Everfree readied to attack.

“Uhh… We have a problem guys,” said Twilight as she pulled out her rifle, “Those who are fit to fight, let’s go!”

A nurse came through the door urgently.

“Can you please unplug these tubes? I’ve got a battle to fight,” Jack asked, she only nodded as she did the same for everypony.

“Get your weapons and let’s move out!” barked Spitfire, trying her best to not sound weak. Jack grabbed his sniper rifle from beside him and kicked the stand down and crashed to his belly. Time to snipe. Since Daring couldn’t find her revolver, she borrowed Jack’s. She lay beside him, looking down the iron sight of the revolver.

Twilight led the Wonderbolts down to ground level, where sandbags have been placed by staff to create a blockade. The ‘bolts took out their rifles and readied themselves, knowing clearly what the signal would be, an unspoken order. Jack lowered his breathing and calmly looked for targets that were lined up so he could get multiple kills with one shot. She would need to switch to high explosive incendiary ammunition which were marked by red stripes down the cartridge.

Jack squeezed the trigger, the muzzle emitting a high amount of light. Three pegasi fell as Jack saw the tracer bullet fire through the enemies. Then came the simultaneous crack of rifles underneath him. Daring tried shooting with his revolver but the ranges were just too long. All she could do was to aim higher, pray that the shell would hit and bruise the enemy or better, hit his/her eye.

The dense army of troops rushed from the forest, shooting their magical weapons. Hundreds of red beams exploded on the hospital walls. These weapons were not known for their accuracy but for the pure destruction they could cause at close range. Twilight from downstairs threw up a shield to deflect the incoming blasts.

Jack reloaded and pumped shot after shot quickly but the sheer numbers were overwhelming. One hit to a pony caused an explosion that usually killed the ones around him/her. Jack loved his rifle. Downstairs, the matter was much more serious. Many sandbags have already been burned by the magic beams causing yellow grains to be whipped up whenever a stray magic beam ricochets off the ground or another building into the entrance of the hospital.

The sky was illuminated red by the sheer number of tracers that were being fired. Jack concentrated on the black unicorn. He needed to be taken out but this could be rewarded with one of two actions: 1. The army retreats or 2. The army rages and totally wreaks havoc. Jack decided the most likely would be the former and started to aim at the stallion. A sizzle cut through the air. Jack felt like his whole body was on fire. An intense burning sensation spread though his body as he rolled onto his back in agony.

A silvery light erupted in the night sky, a chariot bearing a pony. No. Not anypony, this was Princess Luna herself.

“Fire my comrades!” she shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Hundreds of silvery beams cut through the sky and sliced through the air at alarming speeds until they finally hit the army with great destruction. The earth underneath them were torn and bits of dirt were flung free into the air. Luna slowly flew towards Jack, gliding elegantly. She landed lightly next to Daring.

“What happened to thy friend?” she questioned.

“They shot him!” Daring replied, tears welled in her eyes.

“Hush now, this is merely a minor wound. He will wake up. We will be sure of it,” Luna spoke as she cast her magic. Little did she know that the wound was inflicted by dark magic. A dark blue aura surrounded Jack as fur grew over the wound and muscle cells regenerated. As soon as Luna finished, she collapsed onto the floor. “It cannot be!” she wailed, “Sister, help!”

Daring didn’t know what was going on but the goddess of the moon just collapsed in front of her and was wailing like a child. Jack didn’t stir. The silver beams that were bombarding the enemy lines have stopped, now the air was completely silent as both sides were confused and disoriented. Daring wrenched Jack’s sniper rifle and took aim. She squeezed the trigger. The brilliant flash of the muzzle told her the bullet was on its way. A black shield stopped the bullet as it was about to hit its target.

“I. SHALL. NOT. FALL!” shouted the black unicorn as he directed his army forwards. New reinforcements came in the form of flying pegasi. Currently, there were at least three hundred soldiers. There were five hundred. Progress was reverted and they were in the situation they were once in ten minutes ago.

Luna stumbled to her feet, swiftly took into the air and cast her ancient magicks at the dark unicorn. “You shall pay dearly for what horror you have don’t to Equestria, Dark Flames!” she shrieked as she charged. All ponies stopped and looked in amazement as the goddess charged, horn glowing fiercely. She released a silvery ball of electrifying energy and cast it in his direction.

Dark Flames laughed manically, “You underestimate my power, Luna!”

With a terrible clang, Dark thrust his sword against Luna’s. The force of the impact knocked Luna’s sword out of the grasp of her magic and all Daring and Twilight could do was to watch Dark retreat back into the forest, with a subdued Luna. Now what?

Jack coughed and rolled over again, “What happened?”

Daring said nothing and looked at him with anxiety. Jack sensed there was something wrong. He looked around and saw nopony there. Daring heaved Jack to his legs and led him downstairs where the Wonderbolts were looking broken and Twilight was sobbing to herself in the corner. Dash was sitting opposite to her, looking helpless with Soarin’s wing around her.

Whatever that happened was not good…

Chapter XX

CHAPTER XX

“What happened?” asked Jack in a concerned voice.

“It’s Princess Luna, she got taken by the unicorn named Dark Flames, the one we were fighting.

The night seemed to grow darker. The silvery stars seemed to stop twinkling merrily and cast their constant light onto the lands. A rumble of hooves caught his attention. The entirety of the small country town seemed to be awake and surveying the situation. Twilight stood and moved sandbags swiftly to the left side of the hospital entrance.

“Hello,” she said awkwardly.

Before she could say another word, a white alicorn with a flowing mane landed beside Twilight. She raised a hoof to stop the residents from causing a commotion and pulled Twilight away from the crowd. Royal guards landed soon after as they stood guard stoically on the entrance. Jack tried to enter the small room Celestia had brought Twilight into but she shook her head firmly.

“Twilight,” Celestia said in a low tone, “tell me exactly what happened.”

“Uh… well… you see…” Twilight stuttered as she struggled to put the words out, “Dammit! Ask Jack or somepony else, I wasn’t too involved. I wasn’t the only one, you know?”

“I see,” said the Princess in a regal tone, “Well, let us speak about this at a later date. I have got some appointments to handle back at Canterlot this morning. I will write to you when I have some spare time. Luna’s quite a warrior, you know?”

With that, Celestia trotted elegantly out of the door and disappeared into the reddening horizon, wings open. The royal guards stayed however, maybe to fend off another attack? Unlikely. Twilight returned to the group and found a comfy spot to sit on, “Well, might was well go home guys?” She was replied with grunts of approval as the band moved out of the hospital entrance and into the crowd.

As per usual Daring tugged Jack through the crowd and headed for the inn. They forced their way through the crowd as the sun started to cast long shadows upon anything that blocks its light. Twilight and the ‘bolts were following them, because they knew that Jack wanted to talk. Talk about what happened the night before.

Twilight yelped as she and Dash crashed into something. No, that something was their friends who were probably worried sick about them. Twilight looked up as angry eyes stared upon her. “I can explain!” she yelped. She had never seen her friends wear angry glares at her before. How intimidating?

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

Jack sat with everypony around a table in the dimly lit bar in the shabby little inn. They waited patiently as Twilight rearranged her thoughts, so she was at least coherent in front of her friends. “All right,” she said, “So…” Twilight started to explain all that has happened the last few days of her life and it took a fair while. Some facts needed correcting occasionally and that was when the rest of the band got to interject her speech. “… so that was what happened and it all ended with Celestia meeting me and asking me to explain what had happened to her sister,” she ended confidently.

“Aaaaaaand?” asked Rarity.

“I needed some time to rearrange my thoughts. I didn’t answer,” replied Twilight flatly.

Everypony except for the six friends were either sleeping while drunk, sleeping, drinking or drinking while sleeping, an impressive feat performed by Blaze as a testimonial to her crazy habits and what alcohol can drive ponies to do. Daring was trying her hardest not to laugh at Blaze, her cheeks puffing out with every inhalation of air.

Jack sat in his chair, his thoughts drifting to dark faraway lands, indecisive. He dreamed of monsters that fed on darkness or shadows. Lands without sunlight. It was no surprise when asked a question, Jack stiffened and spluttered.

“So, what’s your story. How did you meet up with Daring Do?” asked Dash curiously over a mug of cider.

Daring wrapped a wing around Jack as he choked on his beer and said with a grin, “Look at him, is he in a condition to answer such a strenuous question?”

The merry band chuckled at Jack’s expense. A slight blush crept up into Jack’s cheeks as he grew more and more embarrassed by the second. Jack looked around at the ponies surrounding him, trying to control their laughter. It wasn’t even a funny statement. Maybe the tough situations made light heartedness much more appreciated?

“Uhh… Ok I will tell, just listen carefully, ok?” said Jack in the midst of their snickers.

The group of ponies nodded in approval. They wanted to know how Jack picked up such a famous pony when he was the average commoner and how this mess all started. It really was a mess. Luna is now missing and a mysterious entity in the Everfree probably retreated with their valuable asset.

“So, it all began when…” began Jack as he told the group of his adventures in the eastern lands. The group listened intently not missing a word. They leaned close to the table with their drinks clutched in their hooves. “…and BAM!” shouted Jack when he reached the part when he was attacked by the blue monster the temple in the Jungle attacked him unsuspectingly. Everypony jumped back into their chairs, not anticipating a fright. Jack chuckled as he observed the calamity that was presented to him.

Drinks were spilled onto table and floor; mugs were tipped while the liquid inside gushed out. Soarin spilt beer all over himself, along with Dash who was tucked under his wing. Blaze, who was asleep, but still drinking, got awoken suddenly and her mug was stuck on her muzzle. Damn! What a night.

“I think it is time to get back home now,” said Twilight as she observed the grandfather clock nestled in the corner of the bar. The group groaned as they lifted themselves out of their chairs and stumbled due to the preposterously large amounts of alcohol in their system. Twilight and friends offered a hoof to the Wonderbolts who accepted generously, hobbling out of the inn.

“What a night. I was waiting to do that!” said Jack triumphantly, “That Blaze truly is a great drinker!”

Daring chuckled, “Well at least you still have spirit after what had happened.”

“Believe me, I don’t,” said Jack seriously as he opened the door to their room in the inn.

Jack was about to toss himself onto the bed but Daring stopped him suddenly.

“What?” he asked.

“You’re going to have a bath first before you go anywhere,” she said sternly as she pulled Jack into the bathroom.

“You need to make me!” argued Jack.

“Fine!” Daring rebutted before pouting cutely.

“Stop that before you give me a heart attack Daring! You win, you win!” said Jack as he: 1. Just couldn’t be bothered to argue anymore, 2. Daring was an unstoppable force of nature when it came to persuasion. Jack obediently turned the hot water tap on. Cold water flowed through the pipes at first and took a while to warm up. Daring stepped out of the bathroom to give him privacy. How wonderful it felt to have a bath for the first time in months thought Jack. He simply forgot the feeling of having one after living rough for months on end.

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

Jack covered himself in a towel before he stepped out of the bathroom to find Daring laying on the bed herself, dirty clothes and all. He grunted angrily as he approached. Daring looked up to him slowly, a look of absolute harrow in her eyes. Jack tugged her out of bed and into the bathroom as she tried to resist.

“What a hypocrite!” exclaimed Jack in a dramatic voice.

“Quit it,” said Daring sharply as she tried to resist with no result.

The water in the bath was still warm so all Jack had to do was to rip the clothes off Daring and dump her in the tub. Simple. How mistaken he truly was. Daring bucked around as Jack tried to force her into the bath after executing phase one of his plan. Jack snatched her out of the air after one final effort and dunked her roughly into the bath. She was not amused. Daring reached her dripping hooves at Jack, who was unsuspecting of the swift attack and launched him into the large bath tub with her.

“Revenge!” she cackled with glee.

Jack looked at Daring disapprovingly and tried to step out before she noticed.

“Where are you going, mister?” she questioned playfully as she tugged Jack back into the tub.

“For the love of god Daring,” he said exasperated.

“Nope.”

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

He finally struggled out of the bathroom after spending ten minutes of fighting. ‘What a night!’ he thought as he dried himself in the room and lay on the bed, staring out the window at the un-twinkling stars. Luna was gone. What happens now? The night was a darker shade of deep violet than when Luna was around. It looked foreign, evil in fact.

Daring finally arrived out of the bathroom when Jack was contemplating going back in and pulling her out forcefully. “Come here, you old prune!” he joked. Daring roughly leapt onto the bed rolling onto Jack.

“Am I really?” she questioned light-heartedly.

“Totally,” answered Jack.

“Why you little…” Daring roared as she plunged into Jack.

Jack quickly got under the sheets and covered his head with his pillow. Daring did the same a few seconds after. She was waiting to get the pounce on Jack. Jack warily took his head out of the pillow, turning opposite to Daring to blow the candles. As he turned back, Daring pulled him into a tight embrace. He was not expecting that.

“Uhh…” he mumbled.

“Just shut up for once, ok?” said Daring rhetorically.

“Mmmhmm…”

“That was a rhetorical question, silly.”

“Dammit!”

Chapter XXI

CHAPTER XXI

“Aaaahhh!” shouted Jack as he woke up from one of his frequent nightmares. He looked around as he shot up to a sitting position, waking the sleeping mare beside him. Daring grunted and dropped back to sleep like a log. It had been quite a tiring few days with all the chaos that had been happening around the place. Jack noticed that he was dripping with cold sweat. The clock beside the bed told the time of 3:57am. Jack uncovered himself and shivered in the cold air. He walked over to the small desk nestled in the corner of the room and sat down on the chair, while grabbing a pen and some blank sheets of parchment that had been sitting on the desk.

Jack spent long minutes rearranging his thoughts, so they would translate onto paper coherently. He set his pen onto the page, and let the words flow. The fine curvatures and sweeps of letters filled the page rapidly. He had to get dark thoughts out of his mind. The writing told of dreams. Nightmares. Personal fears, confessions, snapshots of the darkest moments in his life. The scratching of pen against parchment filled the room as the pen danced across the page.

Jack was in his own world, oblivious to what is happening in the world around him. He felt a warm breath on his shoulder suddenly. Jack flinched as he quickly rolled the parchment away and tucked it onto a drawer. He slowly turned around and looked into the magenta eyes that were watching him intently. “Why are you he – aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?” choked Jack.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep those words a secret. Can we talk?” asked Daring. She saw everything. It was not a pretty sight, a stallion with a broken mind before her, his confessions and personal worries cast onto parchment to vent his struggles. Jack nodded and walked over to the bed and sat down. Daring did the same, next to him, wrapping her left wing around him. Jack sat silent for minutes, a broken mind he had. A mind that was never revealed to anypony.

“Ok. Can I confess something to you?” Jack asked tentatively.

“Go ahead,” Daring urged.

“I used to have somepony I loved,” he started, “She was a great mare but she always complained to me about not spending enough time with her. I was always out wandering around in strange places, pursuing my own interests. It never came to mind that she had feelings too. Feelings that I could not decipher. I swore to myself after we broke up that I would never allow anypony to tug my heart again. It broke me. It made me realise that I didn’t have a heart,” a tear fell down his cheek as his words wavered.

Daring didn’t know how to respond. It was the first time that any of this had ever happened to her. She did not know whether to comfort him, or do something else. She was scared in situations like this. It tugged her heartstrings that Jack, of all ponies, had something so deep to confess. Daring felt empathetic for him as she also felt his hurt. A scar that would show forever. Daring moved forwards into Jack and embraced him, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I love you and nothing will break that,” whispered Daring into Jack’s ear.

“You will understand one day,” Jack sobbed painfully, “I am not a good pony.”

Daring didn’t move as she clenched onto Jack. He embraced Daring tightly for support as tears gushed down his cheeks, wetting the carpet below them. They were frozen in the position for what seemed like hours to Jack. The cold wind came through the cracks under the balcony door and cooled the room as it rustled their fur gently.

Jack leaned back and gently pushed Daring aside as he tried to tuck himself under the covers and fall asleep. Sleeping was a struggle most of the time. He was plagued by nightmares and much more frequently now than ever before. He felt Daring beside him again, the warmth of her body as she leant against him lightly. He relaxed, now knowing that he was being supported. Sleep came easily now as he relaxed and felt his eyes close leaving in a realm of darkness.

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

Jack woke up in the morning groggily. He tried to turn but he was restrained by the sleeping mare beside him… again. She was clutching onto Jack tightly as she slept peacefully. Jack slowly pulled her hoof away from his body and nearly succeeded but voice stopped him, “Come on, five more minutes,” muttered Daring who was nestled in Jack’s chest. Well, Jack couldn’t deny the request anyways since her forelegs were clamping him down. If you can’t fight it, join it.

Five minutes passed quickly for Daring. She felt like she was in heaven but grudgingly hopped out of bed with Jack after the five minutes passed. ‘Why does he have such a sharp sense of time?’ Daring thought angrily, ‘I could’ve had an hour more in bed.’ She put on her clothes as Jack put on his trench coat and concealed his rifle under it. They silently slipped out of the inn and walked briskly to the Golden Oak Library as the cold wind blew against them.

They arrived after trotting through the slumbering town for a good few minutes. Jack knocked on the door, then stood aside, awaiting an answer. To his surprise, it wasn’t Twilight who answered the door, it was Spitfire. “Hello Spits, where’s Twilight” And why are you here?” asked Jack curiously.

“Twilight is resting upstairs, she is exhausted and I have a hangover,” growled Spitfire, “Come in before I slam the door in your faces.”

Spitfire grinned at her own comment. Jack stepped into the library, a blast of warmth welcomed him. Daring followed him into the library to see the five Wonderbolts lounging around, scattered everywhere.

“Ok, let me explain,” said Spitfire, “You know when you drink a bit too much alcohol and you regret it the moment you step out of the pub?”

Jack nodded.

“Well, that’s what happened here,” she said.

“Impressive, especially Blaze on her drinking skills,” Jack smirked, “but alas, I have some business to take care of.”

“Ok, Jack,” replied Spitfire as she trotted back to her corner and picked up a book which she buried her head into.

Jack snorted as he walked up the stairs and arrived at a door with a brass plaque displaying, ‘Twilight.’ Jack knocked softly, not wanting to wake Twilight up if she was still asleep. To his surprise, the door opened almost immediately and he saw a little dragon standing to the side of it.

“Who are you?” it said in a matter-of-factly way.

“Uhh… Jack and I’m here to speak to Princess Twilight if she is here,” said Jack to the little dragon.

“Twilight, you have a visitor!” it called out.

“Coming, Spike!” she replied.

Twilight rushed to the dormitory door when she saw Jack waiting for her patiently.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hi,” said Jack, “We require your assistance to find some further information on the ‘Terra Elemental Amulet,’”

“Oh,” she gasped, “has it gone missing again?”

“Yes.”

Twilight rushed downstairs with Jack and Daring following her as she looked through her meticulously organized book shelves. She had a look of frustration on her face when she looked at shelf after shelf of books.

“Can’t find it god dammit!” she exclaimed.

Spitfire stood up from her corner and walked over to Twilight.

“Trying to find something?” she asked.

“Ah! That’s the one! Twilight said as she ripped the book Spitfire was reading out of her hooves. She brought the book to a pedestal in the centre of the room and poured over pages of information quickly as she rapidly flipped the pages with her magic. “Aha! Got it!” she said with excitement as she handed the book on the page about the amulet to Jack. Spitfire looked over his shoulder at the amulet.

“That’s the amulet that we have been trying to locate for years now,” she commented.

“Really?” asked Jack as he scanned the paragraphs.

“Yeah.”

“Well, Daring and I have been trying to find it too, it was within our grasps but Kasha tossed it to an eagle and it flew away with the amulet,” said Jack.

“Who’s Kasha?” asked Spitfire.

“Were you paying any attention to my stories last night, Spits?”

“Uhh… no,” replied Spitfire.

“Dammit,” cursed Jack.

“Well, you see…” Jack trailed off into one of his life stories again, this time about when he was travelling in the eastern deserts when he was attacked by Kasha’s mercenaries. It took quite a lot of repeating to get the message into Spitfire’s head. “…and that is all you need to know about Kasha,” he ended, exhausted.

“Well, since we’re on the same page, do you want to come check out our academy? We’ve got some pieces of the puzzle about the amulet in our archives,” asked Spitfire.

“Sure!” replied Jack excitedly.

“Well, I can visit the princess with you on the way and that problem would be sorted too,” Twilight interjected.

“One question, why is Dash… um…” Jack trailed off before he could ask the whole question to Twilight.

“Well,” started Twilight, “It all happened a year ago at the Grand Galloping Gala when Dash actually wanted to go for once. I got her a ticket so she could go with me. She didn’t really tell me her intentions but the moment we got in and saw the Wonderbolts, Dash rushed to Soarin. Those two have been close for a year now and I really don’t know how Dash got Soarin to like her, not that she is an average mare, she’s definitely not, but why her of all ponies?”

“Well, we can discuss that on the morrow but we need to now get some breakfast and get our means of transport to Canterlot,” said Spitfire formally. She clearly was a bit sensitive on the subject. Workplace relationships were supposed to be secretive.

The rest of the day was a matter of finding information, booking train tickets and writing to Princess Celestia to alert her of the fact that they were going to Canterlot tomorrow. It was not a special day but the exhausted Wonderbolts got a whole say’s sleep at least.

Chapter XXII

CHAPTER XXII

The group of ponies set off through the town to the train station early next morning. Twilight felt guilty for not telling her friends but she decided it was for the better. The sun had barely crept up the horizon, dousing the lands with a blood red sky and a yellow disk half covered by the curvature of the planet. Long shadows were cast as the group trotted in single file to the open Ponyville train station platform.

A multi-coloured train was waiting at the station, occasionally releasing the small puff of steam from the funnel which was caught in the blood red sky, creating the illusion of a red cloud of gas. The train had no more than three carriages. Not many passengers decided to travel at dawn but there were a few stragglers who were already boarded and staring blankly out of the large windows.

Twilight gave out nine passes, one to each member of the group (the Wonderbolts, Jack and Daring, and Rainbow Dash and herself) which also had their seat number imprinted in bold letters and numbers on the front of the pass. The ponies trotted onto the station and presented their passes to the station master. He nodded stiffly as he observed the tickets and gestured to the train car their seats were located in. “Car A,” he said just in case anypony didn’t notice.

Twilight had everything planned very well, as she did with everything Jack learned. She had packed a map and books for light rereading in her saddlebags and also a few heavy sacks of bits. When everypony boarded the train, they saw that the cabin was private, and included just enough seats to fit them with one left over. The train car had five rows of two seats down the right hand side.

Jack was seated beside Daring, and Soarin was seated next to Dash. Twilight really had though this over a few times. The cabin was spacious and the moment they were all boarded, Twilight took out two sacks of bits and gave one to Jack for his needs. “Come on!” she urged, “I’m a princess, I have too much money, just take it alright?” Jack finally gave up arguing against her and took the heavy sack of bits and transferred it into his own saddlebag. Twilight did the same to Daring, who was sitting beside Jack, insisting that she took it. She was met with much more resistance this time and barely won the argument.

“Good Celestia, you two just don’t get it into your head that I’m a princess, do you?” she mumbled as she walked away to sit next to Spitfire, where they had maps laid on the table before them and discussing in hushed voices but the quiet debate escalated to a heated argument, debating on the fact the amulet had gone missing and where it possibly was. It was amusing for Jack to see the two leaders having a heated debate.

The trip to Canterlot would take around three hours so they had a long time to discuss some issues. Jack felt bored, he blamed himself for not taking a book or a pen and parchment. He stared out of the window at fertile plains that were yet to be farmed and the far away Cloudsdale, the highest cloud buildings sticking out on the flat horizon to the north. Jack felt Daring lean on him gently, her eyes in a trance, gazing out into the open sky. Jack wrapped a hoof around her and stroke her mane gently with the other.

Time flew when the two leant on each other and felt content, truly a rare moment in time. Daring was used to the rough life, living in jungles. She loved that, she couldn’t deny but she just wondered, what she loved more. Feeling the rush of adrenaline while exploring a jungle or sitting next to loved ones. The sun rose steadily as the train flew across the lands, but starting to incline, due to the fact that Canterlot was on a mountain. The air started to get colder in the carriage as the altitude increased steadily.

Daring suddenly hopped onto Jack’s lap without warning. Jack tensed as he wasn’t expecting it. “Well, you didn’t have to stop,” whispered Daring in Jack’s ear. Jack hesitated before caressing her mane again. Daring was a significantly smaller pony, so Jack did not protest when she hopped on. Daring locked Jack in a tight embrace as they travelled further and further up the mountain, the air becoming colder and colder. Jack felt Daring shiver from the cold, and embraced her back, his head hanging over her shoulder.

That was the time, of all times that Twilight decided to have a bit of a ‘stretch’ by walking once up and down the cabin. She saw the companions and started to walk more briskly up and down the cabin, not wanting to disturb them, quickly rushing back to her seat next to Spitfire. Daring sensed the presence of another pony and quickly jumped back into her own seat, but still leaning on Jack nonetheless.

Thirty minutes later, the train arrived in the grand Canterlot train station. Twilight announced a bit earlier that they were expected to go see Celestia the moment the arrive at Canterlot to provide her with the details of the engagement outside of the hospital in Ponyville. The group of ponies stepped out of the cabin and found themselves in bustling pedestrian traffic. They walked slowly through the sea of ponies until they all reached the outside of the station, next to one of the enormous marble pillars.

“Ok guys, everypony here?” asked Twilight. She was answered with nods as Spitfire looked at her flight of four other pegasi. “Ok, let’s get to the castle then!”

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

The majestic castle stood before them, marble gleaming purely and gold shining richly in the sunlight. The Canterlot Castle was always an attractive sight; no matter how many times you’ve seen it, It’s just one of those things in life. Twilight entered through the gilded doors followed by the rest of her companions. She treaded up the large arcing marble staircase and turned a corner into Celestia’s wing of the castle. Banners and paintings of the sunrise and sunset were hung on the walls and ceilings.

To everypony’s surprise, Celestia was standing elegantly in the doorway to her study, waiting for them. “Hello, Twilight and friends,” she said gently, “Do come in and make yourselves comfortable.”

Twilight followed by her group came into the study and found a large amount of cushions, stools and chairs lining the walls. They each brought one of personal preference to the desk behind which Celestia was sitting. The room was painted white with gold accents on the walls with a golden hanging chandelier that was adorned with delicate carvings and candles. Over to the right side of the room relative to Twilight was a glass door that opened out to a balcony. The view even from inside was astounding. Since Canterlot is stationed at the top of a mountain, you could see for miles on end from this high perch.

“Can you good ponies please explain what happened to my sister, we’re not getting anywhere closer if you’re staring out of the window,” she said with a shadow of a grin on her face.

“Oh… alright,” said Twilight snapping out of her trance, “Jack, you may want to explain this part.”

Jack nodded, “Well, your highness.”

“Call me Celestia or princess, Mr. Wanderer. We have no use for such formalities in this environment,” interjected Celestia.

“Sorry, princess. As you recall, I met you in the library a few weeks ago…” Jack started explained.

The rest of the ponies in the room got comfortable and ready for a long explanation. They knew how thorough the princess could be, especially about topics that were close to her heart. The sun gradually sank down under the horizon from its apex. They have been trapped in the room for more than a few hours. They arrived at around noon and now it was sunset. Celestia went through every little detail carefully, listening intently.

“…and I was knocked out cold for that part. I think Twilight or Daring knows more,” Jack finished with a sigh.

“Well, Mr. Wanderer. That was quite a detailed recount and explanation. I congratulate you on hanging on so long. Alas, it is night-time. We shall discuss further on this topic tomorrow. I grant you guest quarters in the castle, inform me of your sleeping arrangements and I shall grant those wishes,” said Celestia as they walked out of the study, “I shall host supper tonight.”

Celestia led the group into the castle’s massive dining hall, where a merry fire was cackling in the far side. The room had the same design as Celestia’s study but at a much larger scale. A small amount of dishes of food were laid on the long table. It was modest for a princess. Celestia gestured for the group to join her, and they took seats around the end of the table, next to Celestia, who was sitting at the end. They ate heartily and even conjured a light heartedness felt by Celestia. After the initial dinner, dessert was served in the form of crepes drizzled with caramel. A few beers and wines were passed around as well, to ensure the high spirits. It was another great night. Celestia revealed her true self as being a bit of a troll and prankster. Blaze was sleeping while drinking again, everything was back to normal.

“I think it is time to hit the hay, don’t you?” asked Spitfire with a slight slur. She never really allowed herself to drink, especially because she was captain of the Wonderbolts but such an occasion with royalty cannot be missed.

“Yeah, I think so,” replied Jack warily.

“You still have not told me of your sleeping arrangements yet,” said Celestia softly, in the middle of downing her second glass of wine.

“Ok, so each Wonderbolt is going to need their own room, Dash will share a room with Soarin,” said Twilight, which caused Celestia’s eyebrows to raise.

“Found your special somepony, Dash?” she remarked, “Ok Twilight, go on.”

Dash who was currently tucked in Soarin’s wings sat up straight for a moment, a blush creeping onto her face.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Celestia chuckled.

“Jack will be sharing a room with Daring and I’ll take my usual room,” finished Twilight.

“I will get that sorted straight away,” said Celestia while she lifted herself out of her chair and turned to walk out of the dining room, “You ponies can stay here.”

A few minutes later, Celestia returned. “You can go to your rooms now, the six rooms you requested are ready. They are in the guest wing. Go up the stairs on the left hand side this time. Turn to your left at the first intersection and you should be there.”

An out of sync “thank you” were muttered by the tired ponies as they headed up to their rooms. It was a tiring day, especially for Jack who had to recount his experiences for the past few days. Jack pushed open his bedroom door and trotted inside, followed by Daring.

“You are going to have a shower mister!” she said sternly like the night in the inn.

“Only if you hop in with me.”

“Uhh… Ok I guess…” Daring trailed off as Jack tugged her into the bathroom.

Chapter XXIII

CHAPTER XXIII

It was dawn. Streams of red light penetrated the elegant curtains which blocked the magnificent view of Canterlot. Jack wore up gradually in his room, as the sun gently increased the luminosity in the room. Jack sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and check the grandfather clock that was sitting in the corner of the room, facing him with a giant pendulum swinging hypnotically. It was only half past five in the morning, but he felt energised for the day. Jack attempted to stand, while a bit light headed, and swayed a little.

Thick, rich carpets covered the floor which was gleaming white marble. Jack made his way to the bathroom to perform his morning rituals that he hasn’t done for a long time. Even a pony like him knew that meeting royalty was a special occasion. He brushed his teeth and had a short shower before stepping out of the bathroom and putting on his trench coat and using his knife to shave the grizzled, wavy short goatee he had. There was no need to bring a weapon with him but he took his revolver, it was a habit he had for around a year now.

He suddenly remembered his task of drawing a map of the eastern plains area. ‘I better report to my boss before he gets nervous that he just lost a cartographer,’ he thought with a smirk. He trotted over to Daring, who was sleeping peacefully on her side of the bed for once and shook her playfully.

“Huh?” she mumbled as her eyes fluttered open.

“Wake up! We have a long day ahead!” said Jack cheerfully.

“Seems like you finally got up in time for once, eh?” said Daring as she swiftly hopped out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Jack was sure that she would know where he was if he went to wake up the other ponies in the group. They can’t be sleeping in after all, they had a breakfast to attend.

Jack rushed out of his room and knocked on the door opposite to his. He was pretty sure this was Fleetfoot’s room. A groggy light blue pegasus answered the door. “Wake up, we need to get going Fleets!” said Jack enthusiastically. He didn’t know how to explain it but he felt so good that morning. Fleetfoot groaned.

“Is there something you wanted?” she said with a shadow of a smirk.

“Dammit Fleets just get up!” Jack exclaimed as he pulled away to the door of the room next to his.

He knocked on the door and a tired looking Spitfire appeared. “What do you want?” she asked as she looked at Jack with a deadpan.

“Get up commander, its five thirty already,” Jack said.

“I swear the next time you do this to me I’ll pin you down and punch you so hard that…” Spitfire trailed off, “Wait, don’t we have breakfast with the princess? Dammit I forgot, sorry. Probably had one too many drinks last night.”

Jack chuckled at her discrepancy. That was when Twilight bust out of her room and slammed her hooves on every single door near her. “Get up!” she called, “We’re going to be late for breakfast!”

It was half an hour after everypony got ready, which took them to six o’clock which was just in time for breakfast. They trotted down the wide arcing stairs to the dining hall. As they entered they saw stacks of pancakes already laid out on the long table and Celestia was at the doorway to greet them. “Good morning my little ponies,” she said gently, “Did you sleep well?”

She was met with nods as she led them into the dining hall. “I believe that Twilight, you are going to speak to me about what happened after Jack passed out in the conflict in Ponyville?” she asked, “We can discuss the details over breakfast if you want.” A chef brought her a mug of coffee which she took a small sip out of. It was steaming hot.

“If you want any drinks, order up!” said the princess.

Everypony in the group each ordered a drink of their liking and dug in. Twilight was the first finished and explained to Celestia what happened thoroughly over a cup of hot chocolate as the rest of the group listened intently at her perception of how the events unfolded. It took a fair while to go over all the facts, more had happened than Jack realised.

“So, Luna was subdued by Dark Flames and taken prisoner?” Celestia asked disbelievingly.

Everypony nodded.

“Well, that’s a bit hard to swallow,” commented Celestia, “I shall not hold you good ponies up any longer. You may now do as you wish.” Celestia turned and trotted towards the door. “You must also alert me on how long you’re staying,” she said as she exited.

Jack agreed to Spitfire to visit their Academy that day. Jack followed Spitfire out of the dining hall with Twilight bringing up leading the rear. Since Jack is not a pegasus, they would need to use a blimp or a hot air balloon to reach the Wonderbolts Academy. Twilight cast her cloud walking spell on Jack the moment they exited Canterlot Castle. Apparently, the Wonderbolts had their private blimp which was stationed on the outskirts of Canterlot. The small group walked through the bustling city streets until the crowd became thinner and thinner as they reached the shaggier looking outer-Canterlot.

Jack immediately spotted the blimp when they turned a corner and trotted out of Canterlot’s outer walls. It had the Wonderbolts crest painted on it and was quite large for a craft capable of flight. It was tied down to a large iron post which was sticking out of the concrete landing pad. Spitfire led them onto the landing pad, then she left to the small warehouse to the right of the field and pulled out a small ladder to board the floating craft.

Jack climbed aboard and gasped as he saw the inside. There were many glass display cabinets holding a large variety of medals and trophies. On the steel walls hung pictures of the Wonderbolt captains of old. Jack found a seat on the left side of the craft and looked out of the window.

“Ready to lift off?” shouted Spitfire as she marched upstairs to the controls.

“Yep!” answered Twilight as the last passenger boarded. She levitated the ladder back into the warehouse with her magic and found a seat herself and pulled out a book from her saddlebags.

The blimp lifted off the ground slowly. The soft hum of the external engines started as they propelled forwards. The view was excellent from the blimp. Jack could see the whole of Canterlot before long and the lands that were lying low under the mountain. The land was a patchwork quilt, different coloured farmlands and forests littered the ground. Brilliant blue rivers carved through the land, flowing into the faraway ocean.

Twenty minutes later, Jack started to see what looked like rings of clouds, no not rings, it was a whole training course. They must have reached the Wonderbolts Academy! The academy itself was set on the top of a very tall mountain, with sides of sheer cliff. There was a compound sitting on top of the mountain with a runway that was marked intricately with lines that meant nothing to Jack.

“Coming in for landing!” shouted Spitfire from upstairs.

The blimp came down fast on the runway and landed with a rough screech of iron against bitumen. The craft came to an abrupt stop. It was a day off for most of the Wonderbolts and cadets at the Academy so the compound and training facilities were mostly abandoned. A small group of Wonderbolts, the third squad did actually come up to meet them. Spitfire came out of the control room and lead the group out of the blimp.

“Hello Silver!” she waved as she flew down from the slightly elevated door on the side of the craft.

“Morning commander, and may I question why you took the blimp up here? I would be greatly comforted to hear that the commander could actually fly properly,” Silver said sarcastically.

“Is he always like this?” Jack whispered to Spitfire.

“Yeah, his always just an old sack of misery,” she chuckled.

“Oh. I see now, it’s one of those walking types. What’s he here for?” questioned Silver.

“We’re just taking a look through the archives for the amulet he and his friend over here has been searching for,” replied Spitfire.

“Ah. The amulet,” Silver finally gained a very serious pose, “Well, sonny – he shook Jack’s hoof vigorously – My name is Silver Lining. I’m the director of the archives around here and I know what you’re looking for, but what are you planning to it eh? Why do you want it?”

“Well, first of all, my name is Jackson Wanderer, call me Jack and here’s my friend, Daring Do and we just want it for safekeeping, alright?”

“That’s what everypony says,” he grunted, giving them a look of suspicion, “Well, come on then, we’ve got a lot of records to look through.”

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

Silver Lining led Jack, Daring and Twilight through the long halls of the compound which was pained a dark navy blue, with the floor being a shade lighter. Golden stripes accented the walls of the building with photos of old Wonderbolts wearing many medals on the flight suites they wore. They turned many corners, the place was like a giant maze! The lighting slowly began to dim as they walked into the more deserted parts of the compound.

“Well, here we are,” said Silver as he led them down a flight of stairs. He opened a large steel door into a room full of shelves and one dingy desk in the far wall. Many scruffily filed folders lay on the shelves with a thick layer of dust sitting stagnantly atop them. “So what did you say you were looking for?” Silver asked as he wandered through the shelves absentmindedly, then finding a seat at the unkempt desk.

“The amulet,” replied Jack.

“Ah… yes,” he muttered as he walked through many shelves of papers. He stopped at the third one to the left and rummaged through the files. After minutes of searching, and Jack fidgeting, he found the folder he was looking for and carried over to the desk. “This is the one,” he said as he blew the thick layer of dust off the file, he flipped through the pages and pulled a few out, “Here, these are the ones you want to be looking at, mind you these are up to half a decade old.

Jack looked closely at the small writing. It was written in an old style, with pristine curves in the letters which joined them together fluently. The first one was of a scouting mission over the Whitetail Forest. He was not interested in that one because it was filed five years ago. He pulled out the second piece of paper which was written in a modern style, this time not by hoof. It had the block letters and blackish ink of a typewriter. Jack read through it thoroughly. The report was about another scouting mission, this time over the Everfree one year ago. They reported sighting of a green compound with what looked like anti-air weapons, the latter part of the report also told of chatter about a certain amulet. It said something about a brother in Stalliongrad, this was all recounted by one pony; Iron Skies, former elite Wonderbolt and master of espionage.

“We, squad two have reported many recent conversations about an ‘amulet.’ We are very sure that this item is currently in possession by a ‘brother’ living in Stalliongrad. We have not yet tracked this pony down, nor heard more than a whisper of him...”

“… never acted like this. Then we found a compound painted leaf green in the Everfree. We do not know what this structure is, nor do we wish to approach it as it is heavily armed…”

Jack looked sadly at the page, staring at the photographs dotting the report. One was a bird’s eye view of the compound that was stationed in the Everfree. Jack was surprised they didn’t take action against the compound back then. Equestria did have the military power but maybe everything else was just not going as planned. Even a wanderer like Jack knew of the recent happenings in Equestria. The lands they held in possession were coveted by many other leaders who eyed these lands greedily. The Draconian Empire especially held a grudge when their land was taken by the Griffin Kingdom a few years back. Equestria had been working closely with the griffins for the past few decades already. The Draco’s were enraged and had positioned at least three million troops on Equestria and the Griffin Kingdom’s borders, ready to strike.

Equestria’s political situation in the known world has deteriorated. The powerful enemies of the west have formed a coalition, while the Draconian Empire has stationed troops along the border. Politics was something Jack had tried to never be involved in, because it was something when you got stuck in, you would be looked and regarded differently by other ponies. He felt his legs going a bit stiff when Daring poked him gently.

“Uhh… Jack, you’ve been looking at that for at least twenty minutes now. What is so interesting on that page?” she asked.

“Nothing,” mumbled Jack as he walked up to Silver.

“Silver,” Jack asked, “Can I keep this, or at least a copy?”

“No, sorry kid,” said Silver apologetically, “These things are highly confidential and the only reason we’re showing this to you if because you are the Canterlot cartographer.”

“Oh, and did I mention that another reason was because you’re basically a husband to Daring? You two are such a good match,” Silver said as he chuckled and walked out of the archives.

Daring tried to hide her laughter as Jack fumed silently, cheeks blazing red. “I’m going to get you one day, you old bastard!” yelled Jack as he started trotting after Silver, out of the archives.

“I bet you will,” Silver said, keeping a straight face, turning around, then stopping dead in his tracks, which caused Jack to face plant in his chest. “Boo!” he chuckled.

Jack face-hoofed and kept walking down the hallway, now following Daring. She doesn’t stop dead in her tracks, does she? Wrong! They could hear Spitfire’s voice suddenly over the P.A. system. (You know how the Draconian Empire I mentioned has its forces on the border? I think that happened. No, it has happened. Maybe. I am author. I get to do what I want). Daring stopped suddenly when she heard Spitfire’s voice carry through the halls. Jack stared at the ground as he walked So as a result, he crashed into Daring and tripped over her, crumpled “Oh for Celestia’s sake, can you stop stopping in the middle of nowhere?” grunted Jack as he struggled back to his hooves.

“Shut up!” commanded Daring as she listened to the broadcast.

“Attention all personnel! Recent news from Princess Celestia confirms our suspicions. The Draconian Kingdom has declared war. Please stay calm and relocate to out barracks in Manehattan. You shall await further orders from there. Get moving!”

Jack tensed. War hasn’t been waged in Equestria for more than a millennium! Why now? He grabbed Daring roughly by her wing and tugged her into a deserted room that looked like a class, where the cadets learned formations. Daring winced in pain as he roughly pulled her in.

“Listen to me,” Jack said to Daring, making sure she doesn’t miss a word, “I have lived in Equestria for four decades, nothing is going to change my decision, ok? Go to Stalliongrad, then get information on the amulet, it might be there according to some archive documents, ok?”

“No,” remarked Daring hesitantly, but with an air of determination.

“Celestia, you are hard sometimes!” Jack threw his hooves up into the air, “Haven’t you head what I said? There is going to be a war. Go get the amulet.”

“No, that can wait,” she said confidently, “I’m coming with you.”

“Look, this could affect the outcome of the war. The amulet has great power, remember?”

“Yes, only when used in the right way,” replied Daring.

Jack completely failed. He wanted to go to war, to defend his country. It was in his blood. One thing he lacked though was the skill of manipulating words to work in his favour. He shook his head slightly and headed for where the Wonderbolt elites stayed while in the compound. Outside the door was a steady stream of the one hundred or so Wonderbolts who were currently in service. It was like trying to swim up a waterfall when barging the opposite ways of the crowd, but eventually made it to the stairs. He did not even notice Daring following him closely. He jumped up the stairs with slight annoyance that Daring didn’t listen to him.

He walked down the hall, trying to find a door with the name ‘Spitfire’ engraved into a copper plate, then drilled in with screws. He galloped the last few metres when he spotted her name on the third door to the end. The golden mare suddenly burst out of the door, in a hurry and crashed into Jack as he was galloping at full speed. They tumbled onto the floor.

“Really? Watch where you’re going Jack and aren’t you supposed to be outside already?” yelled Spitfire into his ear.

Jack winced. “I just... uhh… need some more information please, on this subject, and also, how am I getting down?”

“You’re jumping off the edge of the cliff,” said Spitfire looking absolutely serious.

“Hmm… I would’ve considered that offer if I had magic or wings, but what the hay, I’m going to try it,” said Jack with sarcasm dripping in his tone of voice.

“Well, how do ya think?”

“Blimp?”

“Correct.”

Jack stood up and turned, planning on walking over back to the stairs but he crashed right into Daring.

“Why do you do this to me, guys?” Jack whined.

“Awareness,” said Spitfire and Daring together with a wink.

“I should’ve known you were twins who were loony,” Jack fumed as he galloped away from the mares who were in hot pursuit.

Let’s just say it didn’t work out too well for Jack and he had to be carried to the blimp. And Luna, well… Let’s say she will show up…

Chapter XXIV

CHAPTER XXIV

“What the hell had gotten into you?” Jack groaned after he yawned (which was painful). Jack sat up, in a bed? (which was painful). He looked around the room, seeing nopony there, he struggled to sit on the edge of the bed (which was also painful). Where was this place? White walls, high roof, golden accents on walls to contrast with the white, balcony. It struck Jack that he was in Canterlot. Not just Canterlot, but in Canterlot Castle.

Jack gingerly placed one of his hooves onto the cold marble floor, testing it before bringing all four down onto the lavish marble surface. The stone was cold to the touch, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Jack slowly placed his hooves onto the cold surface and started to limp towards the large doors that separated his room from the grand hallways of the castle. Almost there… Jack felt his hind legs buckle under him and collapsed into a heap on the marble floor. He was met with a cold draught that blew over him as he struggled to get back onto his hooves. The cold wind tingled on his skin.

He heard the sound of hoofsteps nearing him from next to the door. The door clicked as somepony opened it from the outside. The giant door squeaked slightly as the pony pushed it open slowly. Daring was standing at the door, staring at him. Jack tried to stand one last time, using all his willpower but some deity up in the sky just goes, ‘Nope, that ain’t happening son,’ and Jack fell into a clump again, giving up. Daring walked into the room and slowly closed the door behind her and picked Jack up with a grunt, then carried him back over to his bed.

“What’s happening?” asked Jack hoarsely. It was then when Jack realised that he was so thirsty.

“Well, maybe it’s better to bring you to the throne room right now. I’m not ready to fill you in just yet,” she answered, “Are you all right? I’m sorry for what happened, you know.”

Jack forced a laugh, “Well, at least I didn’t actually manage to jump off that cliff!”

“Well, you flew off tangent pretty quickly, but I digress,” remarked Daring, “Let me get you to the throne room, we can then talk about more pressing issues.”

Daring helped Jack to his hooves and helped him through the large doors and down the long hallway that led to one of the arcing marble staircases. Jack winced in pain down every step. There were at least one hundred steps here. Jack slowly, but surely made his way down the staircase. It took a good fifteen minutes and by that time, everypony in the dining hall had finished breakfast and moved onto their drinks of coffee or hot chocolates.

Jack walked through the doors into the dining hall to find Celestia giving Spitfire a briefing with papers and all at the end of the table and the rest of the ponies sat around it looking sober. Jack walked up to the ponies and sat down listening, also, to the princess give information about what was planned for the next few weeks.

“Oh hello Jack,” said Celestia softly.

“Morning,” was all Jack could manage with a dry throat.

He found the jug of water on the middle of the table and quickly poured himself a tall glass, guzzling it down rapidly. He stole a glance at Spitfire when she was talking to an unmet member of the Wonderbolts, who was fully dressed in his attire, wearing many medals on his chest. “What happened?” asked Jack.

“Well, you should probably know the first part,” said Spitfire who was cut off by the princess.

“I think you owe Jack an apology first,” said Celestia to Spitfire with a shadow of a wink to Jack.

“Uh… yeah… about that…” Spitfire mumbled.

“Don’t worry about it Spits, it’s fine, ok?” said Jack.

“Ok, thanks,” said Spitfire gratefully. She hated apologizing to others.

“Well, you should probably fill him in on what we were discussing,” advised the newcomer. He spoke with a gruff, deep voice.

“Ok Iron,” said Spitfire.

Jack listened to her with unwavering attention.

“Two days ago, the day before I sent all the Wonderbolt personnel from the facility to the Manehattan base, the Draconian Empire had made an aggressive push over the border. They have also sent their battleships and ironclads to our shores, our MADAR or Magical Detection and Ranging had detected them fifty nautical miles from Manehattan beach. We need to be able to strike or defend at any time. Canterlot royal guards and the Imperial Equestrian Army have been positioned on our borders and we have stationed magical weapons all across Equestria. This is not a ‘magical threat’ so we cannot use the Elements of Harmony to solve this issue. That is basically our current situation.”

“Well, if there’s a war, I’m fighting,” declared Jack with finality.

“No you’re not, Jack,” said Daring immediately.

“I must agree with Ms. Do here,” said Celestia, “During this breakfast, your friends have told you about your abilities. You shall aid in defending Canterlot if all else fails. You shall also assist Spitfire and I with our paperwork. I take it that you know how war works? You seem like that type.”

“Uh… Yes, I do, but how will that help? Why will I assist you?” asked Jack.

“Well, you have information about my sister, that was the deciding factor for me, but you have some qualities that I think would be suitable for a commander,” Celestia said as she winked at Spitfire.

Jack, who was drinking another glass of water chocked while he swallowed. Daring bashed his back comically as he spluttered. How can he do it?

“Me? Why me?” asked Jack, voice ragged.

“Haven’t you listened?” said Celestia. She stood up and started walking out of the dining hall.

Jack stared at her with wide eyes, not believing what he just heard. He was in a confusing state of mind. He? As commander? Jack was bewildered at the thought. If he was going to be a commander, or an assistant, hundreds of thousands of lives would be in his hands. One false move could end it all. Jack drank his coffee thoughtfully, not giving a thought about what was happening around him. He stared at the giant crystal chandelier hung on the ceiling. The way it reflected light and split it was… truly stunning.

“Hey, let’s get to it then!” said Spitfire, her voice coming from directly behind Jack, “We’ve got some work to do, you heard the princess.”

Jack flinched at the sound of her voice and how close it was. He was not paying attention to his surroundings. He turned on his chair and slipped onto his hooves with a grunt of pain.

“Hey!” called Daring from beside him, “Let the stallion have a rest, will ya?”

“But…”

“Weren’t you the one who inflicted harm to him? You owe him one,” Daring cut the commander off.

“Oh all right!” said Spitfire with an annoyed expression, eyes burning with the fires of hell. You did not want to mess with her right now.

Jack looked at her… then back at Daring…

“It doesn’t bother me, let’s go,” said Jack to Spitfire. She had that glare about her, like anything bad could happen. Remember kids, Murphy’s Law; anything that can go wrong, will go wrong…

“You are not going!” Daring said with gritted teeth, pulling Jack back down to his seat, “You are going to rest today.”

Spitfire looked at Daring with hate burning wildly in those golden eyes. She spread her wings, ready to pounce. Jack looked helplessly at the situation. When you try please all, you please none. Jack braced himself for what was about to happen, shrinking into a small ball in his seat. Spitfire suddenly pounced at Daring ferociously with a whoosh of wind. A sudden streak of grey and blue appeared to block Spitfire completely.

“Iron Skies! What the hell!” Spitfire whined at him.

“Nope,” said Iron, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No!” Spitfire yelled at him, giving him a pout.

Spitfire swiftly dragged Jack by his hoof out of his chair.

“What do you want to do then?” asked Spitfire roughly.

“Uhh… I don’t mind going with Spitfire,” answered Jack nervously staring at Daring, giving her a look that basically translated into, ‘Please shut up!’

“Alright! Fine!” said Daring looking very annoyed at Jack.

His hind legs still hurt. They looked like they are bruised badly. Jack limped his way over to Spitfire. The two went out of the dining hall and approached one of the large flights of arcing marble stairs. Jack looked at the stairs like a dumb beast.

“Come on!” Spitfire said as she nudged him in the ribs.

“It hurts…” replied Jack.

“Gosh, is it that bad?” said Spitfire, “I only meant to chase you down the stairs but you jumped down and tumbled the rest of the way.”

Spitfire surprisingly grasped him at his waist and started to haul him slowly up the stairs with the power of flight.

“You’re heavy!” remarked Spitfire as she panted, flapping her wings furiously.

Jack did not reply. After a minute of slowly finding their way up the stairs, Spitfire set Jack down and gestured for him to follow her and Jack did so obediently. Spitfire led him through many corridors, so many that Jack could’ve sworn that this Castle was a maze. After minutes of following Spitfire, they ended up in a room that was actually decorated with a light blue, and many Wonderbolt posters on the walls with a mahogany desk sitting in the centre with a battle simulation table beside it. The small, delicately crafted wooden pieces designed to be used with the battle simulation table were scattered on the floor beside it.

Spitfire trotted to the table and flicked a few switches. The lights on the lamps above the battle table flashed on and the map on the table changed quickly to the coastal area of Manehattan. She placed the wooden carved pieces in specific locations. Jack now saw that the pieces were meant to represent different types of troops.

“Let me explain,” said Spitfire, walking to his side of the table. She held up a piece carved with wings, “These are cavalry, the pegasi and those – she pointed at the cavalry pieces emblazoned with the Wonderbolt badge – are special operation cavalry like the Wonderbolts. Those – she pointed at the carving of the shield with two guns crossing the front of it, one of the barrels billowing smoke – are the main army force. Each flight of cavalry contains a squad of pegasi and each commandment contains twenty squads, those pieces are the commandments of cavalry. Each special ops cavalry contains a squad of five. These – she picked up a ship from the water – depict our navy. Each ship piece contains a convoy of five ships. There are different types of convoys and those will be marked onto the bottom of the convoy piece. Finally, these are our land units – she picked up a piece that looked like artillery – these are artillery units,” she finished.

“Is this how our forces are currently spread?” asked Jack.

“Yes.”

“How could such a talented commander like you not see the weakness in this configuration? Your defences are too dense. An enemy artillery strike could finish them all! You should move those battleships."

“Ah… Yes,” replied Spitfire thoughtfully as she moved the pieces across the board, “How did you know?”

“Logic,” replied Jack.

“Well, let’s see how good or logical, as you put it, you really are,” said Spitfire flatly. She brought red pieces onto the table as well and gave them to Jack. “The good thing about this table is that it can simulate battles. We use it to train our higher ranking Wonderbolts in the art of war,” said Spitfire as she laid out her troops. The table showed tactical advantage points and barriers like hills, marshes and high mountains. “It can also track the moral and other stats of our army. Place your troops how you like on your side of no-pony’s-land.

Jack thought and placed his ten army units all on slight hills in an entrenched position, shown by pushing on the ground troop piece slightly, making them kneel and extend a wall in front of them. He stationed his artillery not at the back of the board but on a small mountain to the right side of his main attacking force. He was also allowed to take a hidden troop that was not revealed to the opponent. His opponent would need to use a spy piece to detect it. Jack stationed his spy next to his main force and his cavalry behind with the tanks pieces and ready to launch.

“Ok, bring it!” said Jack.

“Hope you can handle it!” said Spitfire grinning.

It was her turn first. She launched her cavalry on a patrol mission and moved her ground troops forwards two units into a trenched position. She thought for a while and decided to move her other two cavalry pieces up, ready to launch a counterattack. Spitfire grinned. She still could make two turns. She fired her artillery, the table simulating the shell tracers as the artillery barraged his troops. No casualties, her artillery piece was too far back to be accurate. Spitfire launched two of her cavalry commandments to attack Jack’s main force. The battle table simulated what is was like, small holographic images of the two armies clashing. Spitfire yelped as Jack’s anti-air defences, his hidden weapon barraged her pegasi. She gritted her teeth in annoyance. Her commandments got totally demolished. No survivors.

Jack looked at the situation thoughtfully. He moved three army units up and set them up on a hill in counterattack mode. He moved his cavalry forwards and launched an attack. Two of the commandments attacked Spitfire’s main army force and revealed her secret weapon, a spell shield. She suffered minor casualties in her army but her artillery pieces got demolished completely by Jack’s third commandment. Jack had one turn left. Cogs and gears were turning slowly his mind. His artillery was in a good position and… He gasped. He realised the spell wall could only work once, in a turn. He fired his artillery and as sure as day, the strikes were not deflected. All he had do now was to surround Spitfire’s army in a pincer. He knew the moral of her army was low.

Spitfire was fuming in rage again. She knew that she shouldn’t lash out and attack too aggressively, or punch Jack in the face. That was always an option. She couldn’t stand a defeat, and this one against an unexperienced wanderer? Not. Going. To. Happen. She couldn’t think straight in her anger. She commanded all her remaining pieces to attack while Jack’s artillery pieces were out of play. She attacked with all her main army and with a supporting shield wall. Sadly, for her, Jack’s main army was in counterattack mode which meant they were loaded with high explosive incendiary bullets. The shield wall bearers tired quickly when the barrage of bullets came upon her army. The rifleponies totally demolished Spitfire’s infantry.

“I swear to Celestia you little piece of absolute shit!” she screamed at Jack. She ponced over the table onto Jack. What was going through Jack’s mind; ‘Shit… really? What’s wrong with her? I’m totally fucked aren’t I? Ok, time to ditch.’ Jack braced himself for the expected punch that was going to be thrown his way. He squeezed close his eyes as he waited. Waited so long for it. What he felt actually surprised him. Spitfire embraced him tightly for a moment… Just a tiny moment but time seemed to stop for Jack.

“Uhh… What?” asked Jack with uncertainty.

“Nopony has ever beat me before on the battle table,” she said, giving Jack a light peck on the cheek.

Jack looked at her with surprise. “Wha-What? Why?”

“Your reward for beating me,” she said with a chuckle. She flashed a grin at Jack.

“Ok…” said Jack. ‘What the hell was that?’ his brain was yelling at him, ‘I was just hugged by the captain of the Wonderbolts… Great… Nothing can get weirder today can it?’

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

Jack walked down the arcing stairs again, feeling his hind legs tug at him with pain with every step. He was flooded by emotions. He did not know what he was hit by, but it was sure good! Euphoria. That was what he was feeling. He felt like he could conquer any challenge, no matter how big or demanding. He made the last few steps down the stairs and bounded into the dining hall for lunch. Platters of salad and cheese sandwiches (I nearly spelt it with a ‘t’) were laid out liberally on the table.

“Hello Daring!” called Jack cheerfully as he entered the dining hall, found a seat and grabbed himself a sandwich.

“Hi,” said Daring, eyeing him suspiciously.

“Any news?” asked Jack, sensing Daring’s suspiciousness towards him.

“Nope,” replied Daring flatly.

“Why are you acting this way?” queried Jack.

“I was about to ask the same thing, Jackson,” said Daring, staring at her glass of water.

That was one of the first times Daring had used his whole name. He knew this just got serious.

“Hello? What?” asked Jack cautiously.

“Awareness, Jackson,” she sighed sadly, “Are you sure you don’t know what you were doing? Why did you like her so much anyways?”

“Well… She’s charismatic, you gotta give her that,” replied Jack, then his expression turned stony, “Don’t tell me you were watching.”

“The problem is… I was,” replied Daring, her voice catching, “Am I not good enough for you?”

“No, no! Don’t say that!” said Jack sternly, wrapping a hoof around the mare to comfort her, “I did not think it meant so much to you.”

The two companions went on to silently eat their lunch, being joined by Celestia and Soarin, who was carrying a number of pies and dumped them onto the table.

“So, any news?” asked Soarin, uncomfortable with the silence at the table.

“Well, I think your commander is trying to steal my stallion,” Daring said with a pout.

“Oh… Well… I’ll talk to her then,” said Soarin, who didn’t know what to reply with.

“Why don’t you talk to her, Jack?” asked Celestia curiously, chiming into the conversation.

“Well… She… She is a scary mare sometimes. She has that look in her eyes,” said Jack to Celestia with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Well, I can’t take care of all your problems, Jack,” said Celestia, “Oh. And here she comes.”

“Speak of the devil…” muttered Jack as she walked in and sat beside Soarin.

Chapter XXV

CHAPTER XXV

Meanwhile in Manehattan…

The sun was setting slowly, sinking into the dark blue ocean, that reflected the orange sun’s rays. The foamy seawater lapped onto the golden shores slowly, but constantly. A grey pegasus glided over the bustling city, around tall buildings that touched the heavens and under massive archways for a maglev track that carried commuters around the city efficiently. He flew over to the outer reaches of the city, back towards the sunset and landed softly at the Wonderbolts barracks in Manehattan.

He walked pass the security guard, presenting his worn identification card to him. He slipped into the barracks and trotted through the long hallways until he reached a room with a large door and an iron sign that read, ‘Command Room.’ He slipped inside quietly, not wanting to draw any attention.

“Good evening, commander. What brings you here so early?” asked an orange and white pegasus, dressed smartly in his flight suit with a badge that proudly boasted his rank of Lieutenant.

“Good evening, Fire Streak. Any news of the Drakes?” asked the grey commander.

“I was about to get a message to you about it. Their infantry has advanced ten miles further into our lands, plundering what was valuable in their path and burning the rest. Their giant destroyers and ironclads have advanced twenty nautical miles. Our MADAR has detected them only twenty nautical miles away from Manehattan port. It is easily in range of their large 468mm naval guns. I think we should prepare to defend ourselves Iron Skies,” reported Fire Streak like he was reading out of a textbook.

“Damn,” the commander cursed under his breath, “They must be conducting a night strike.”

“So, what’s the plan cap?” asked Fire Streak anxiously.

“Hmmm… Move EQS Belfast, Manehattan, Minotaur and Independence from the Manehattan port and resituate them at Portsmouth; ten nautical miles south of Manehattan port,” Iron Skies said thoughtfully while looking at the large map of the area on the wall, scratching his chin, “We can send EQS Fillydelphia to patrol the area with EQS Canterlot. EQS Equestria can stay at port and defend if they do make a large strike tonight. Prepare the harbour guns.”

Back in the royal dining hall at dinner…

Celestia wore a worried look on her face. She clutched a letter tightly with her magic, showing everypony at the dining table how stressed she was. Jack sat uncomfortably at the table, looking at Celestia. He knew what might have happened.

“Is everything alright?” asked Spitfire, “And where is Iron?”

“No… We might be under attack this night. The Drake forces are moving further down south,” said Celestia in a hushed voice.

“Well… What are we waiting here, of all places, for?” asked Jack, “Let us be there and assess the situation!”

The castle rumbled slightly as a deep sounding explosion rippled through the ambient air. Jack stood up and trotted out of the dining hall, without any resistance. He was plotting to himself what would happen as he trotted out of the castle towards the train station. The streets were completely empty, the grand houses and shops were all shut. No window was lit and the only illumination was brought about by the large castle standing at the back of Canterlot.

Jack suddenly heard a whoosh of wind and a hoof grabbing him roughly.

“I thought we talked about this!” shouted Daring.

Jack calmly brushed her off and galloped off into one of the side alleys. He was hoping that this want a dead end. He swerved around a corner and turned back into one of the main streets. Daring was in hot pursuit, right on his heels. The grand train station was only across the road. He could make it. Jack really didn’t know what had gotten into him. Yes, he did talk about it. Did he agree? Jack couldn’t remember. Jack slowed, wanting to turn around. Daring rammed into him, the impact causing Jack to topple over.

“Why?” Daring asked in a demanding tone, “Why do you do this?”

“I have already told you Daring,” said Jack coldly, “and you can’t stop me.”

“Oh, really?” asked Daring with a smirk as she picked Jack up by his waist and attempted to fly. The thrashing stallion could do no nothing against it. All Jack felt in that moment was rage. Unquenchable rage.

“I am trying to fight for Equestria and you tug me away from it! I demand an answer!” yelled Jack as he gave up all resistance.

On-board the EQS Equestria…

Iron Skies saw the enemy ironclads and destroyers near on the horizon. A single shot is yet to be fired. The clouds were blocking the moon from sight, and the thing that gave away the enemy’s position were their shiny metal crafts reflecting the city lights of Manehattan. Fillydelphia and Canterlot were sailing in a tight formation, all guns pointed at the arriving enemy fleet. All was silent in the night. Waves lapped onto Equestria’s shiny armour plating, causing the large ship to bob up and down in the waves and sway side to side like a rubber duck in a bathtub.

All was so silent, and that was when all hell broke loose. The enemy were turning their broadsides to the two patrolling light cruisers. Large turrets swerved and pointed in the direction of Fillydelphia and Canterlot. Iron heard the engines of the friendly ships roar louder as they started performing evasive manoeuvres. Equestria pulled slowly out of port, turning its broadside to the enemy. Turrets swerved with creaks of metal against metal. The clop of hooves on deck and the metallic sound of the large fifteen inch shells being hauled and loaded into the guns made Iron’s fur stand on end.

Distant flashes of white followed by black smoke set all alarms off on board the ship. The distant cracks of enemy guns being fired rang through the air, shaking the deck. The shots were on mark, hitting Fillydelphia and Canterlot hard on the deck, causing fires and explosions of ammunition racks that were situated behind the turrets. White streaks of bubbling water headed towards the two cruisers. Torpedos. The ships were not faring too well, directing all crew efforts to keeping the fires on check. They did nothing to evade the torpedos. Iron wanted to shout, but his voice wouldn’t carry over the din of the chaos on board those ships.

“Fire!” called the captain of the Equestria.

Deafening bangs of the majestic fifteen-inch Royal Ordinance guns rang in the air. The guns blazed one by one, covering the ship in a screen of thick black smoke and causing the ship to lurch to the other side. The yellow coloured tracers flew through the air like meteors and hit one of the ironclads right amidships. The ironclad stopped and an explosion rang through the air, the pressure waves of the giant sound rippled through the air, pushing Iron back slightly from his firm stance. They had hit the ammunition racks in the citadel of the ship. Iron Skies flew back to shore, where ranks of Wonderbolts and Equestrian Air Force (EAF), carrying small fifty pound bombs.

“Launch!” commanded Iron as the ranks flew one by one, forming many flights of delta formations. The one thousand military personnel blackened the sky. They were mere dots after several minutes, soaring through the sky towards the enemy warships. They knew how to avoid anti-air fire, but it wasn’t guaranteed that they would survive a close by shell detonation. From the EQS Equestria, Iron saw the enemy anti-air defences open up, in a constant flash of yellow. The sky was dotted in black smoke, from the anti-air defences. Every few seconds, a bang would silence a ship, caused by the allies successfully dropping bombs down the funnel of the enemy ships.

The battle raged on. The enemy ships were now also firing their main batteries at Canterlot, the only remaining patrol. EQS Fillydelphia slowly broke in half and sank slowly. The lights on it flickered, then cut out, the fires blooming on deck being put out by the waters of the ocean as the deck submerged. The ocean floor was not deep enough, casing the main mast to stick out of the ocean awkwardly. Deafening bangs of Equestria’s guns sounded again, a deep rumble resonating in the decks. Canterlot fired back also, after her situation was solved.

It appeared that the enemy only had around twenty ships in their convoy on the MADAR but now, the MADAR detected over one hundred ships, consisting of small torpedo boats up to mighty battleships armed with high calibre guns that were completely capable to wipe out any other ship, daring enough to challenge it with on well-placed shot, but that was the problem with high calibre guns. They were dreadfully inaccurate at the extremities of its range. That is what makes naval engagements last for hours on end.

The first flights of pegasi were returning after their long, dangerous mission to the enemy lines. The extra anti-air fire had caused many more casualties than Iron had expected. Only around half of the total force arrived back home. There was no time to count every personnel. They were dismissed back to the barracks where they could get rest, or arrive at the infirmary with their ailments. It was lucky that Iron could see all his closest friends in the ‘bolts arrive back.

“Commander Iron Skies, we have a message from Princess Celestia. You are to retreat your forces immediately. Do not attempt to engage anymore. We must relocate EQS Equestria and Canterlot to Portsmouth immediately,” reported the rear admiral from the bridge.

“Alright. We have completed our strike already. Do we need to evacuate civilians from Manehattan?” asked Iron.

“Don’t worry about that. The Department of Foreign Affairs hub in Manehattan has already got onto that,” came a voice from the bridge.

“Ok, Bismarck,” said Iron, trotting into the superstructure and entering the ‘War Room’ after twisting and turning through a maze of halls and passages.

“Hello Iron!” called Fire Streak.

“Set our course for Portsmouth immediately,” he commanded.

“Of course,” answered Fire Streak while drawing on a map, plotting the course, “I will tell cap immediately.”

Back in Canterlot Castle, in the throne room…

Celestia paced the room, muttering under her breath. The rest of the ponies observed her fearfully, not knowing what she should do. She had too much on her mind; first it was Luna, who was brought into the Everfree but her location is now unknown, now there was a war raging on.

“I think at least you should go, Spitfire,” said Jack, “They need a morale boost. You being there would signify that their leader would be willing to fight among their ranks.”

Spitfire nodded thoughtfully, considering what Jack had set. She trotted over to Jack, who was still uncomfortable with her presence, especially so close to him.

“If you go, I will go,” said Spitfire.

“Deal!” said Jack triumphantly. He did not want to hurt Daring mentally but it was something he wanted to do so badly. Being in the centre of action was what Jack liked, right on the front lines.

“Fine! Then I’m coming with you as well!” fumed Daring as she trudged over to Jack and slapped him in the face, “Wake up!”

“Well go as well with our captain,” said a voice from behind Jack, who found Soarin towering over him.

“Well, I think we are all going then?”

“Yep!”

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

Next chapter will be 80% naval combat! It will be so awesome! I cannot wait to write it! Everything is awesome!

Note: I am basing these ships on World War II British Navy and US ships. This situation is also somewhat based on the events of the Tirpitz but with a twist at the end.

Chapter XXVI

CHAPTER XXVI

On the EQS Equestria…

The sea was rough, playing with the convoy of two ships like toys in a bathtub. Giant waves pounded the convoy, tilting and tipping the ships to their extremities. Thick, dark black clouds swirled in the sky, ruthlessly striking the ocean with occasional bolts of brilliant white lightning, the energy cackling in the water in the aftermath of a strike, snaking through the dark waters like a million jagged knives. All was dark, the only things that were illuminated were the convoy’s windows that glared with a ferocious yellow light. The occasional flash of lightning brightened the sky, causing the ships to cast tall shadows onto the sea behind them.

In the turmoil, Iron stood next to a solid wall on EQS Equestria’s bridge. He felt every single wave pound ruthlessly onto the large iron structure. Each valley and crest the ship rode caused the furniture inside that wasn’t bolted down to tumble and slide across the room. The captain was standing at the wheel, wrestling with it to keep the ship on course to Portsmouth, now a near impossible mission.

The other ship was not faring quite as well as the Equestria. In the midst of the previous battle, Canterlot had suffered many hits to the stern, causing its rudder to be damaged, limiting its manoeuvrability. Canterlot was drifting slowly off course, away from Equestria. She had also suffered a hull breach during the battle, the repairs were now not holding up very well and causing the hull to dip lower than usual into the water.

“Where are we?” asked Iron as he struggled to stand straight.

“I don’t know, but when this damn storm stops, I can tell you,” said the captain through gritted teeth. The wheel was turning on its own accord, and he was struggling to keep it straight.

Suddenly, the door to the bridge swung open with a clang and Fire Streak stood there with a piece of paper clutched in his hoof. “The enemy fleet is only five nautical miles away behind us. They seem to be travelling at twenty-eight knots, even in this weather!”

“Wow,” was all Iron could say before a brilliant flash of light and explosion occurred behind them in the distance. White hot tracers travelled through the air at high speeds and slammed into the ocean beside the Canterlot. All hell broke loose. Continuous salvos of battery fire were aimed at the convoy, one hitting Canterlot in the bow, knocking out on of its secondary turrets. The quality of the shots was bad in this terrible weather, many of which didn’t even land remotely near the Equestrian convoy of ships but the quantity of shots made up for the lack of accuracy. Barrages from different ships pummelled the area around the convoy, with some hitting causing minor damage.

Shots from Equestria and Canterlot’s aft turrets were inaccurate, but the large enemy convoy made sure that the shots hit a target. The enemy were sailing too close together, causing missed shots to hit another ship.

“Fire Streak! Send a message for help!” commanded Iron as he walked into the thunderstorm and was soaked to the bone. Fire Streak quickly dashed back into his little coms room and wrote a message. There is a device in Equestria that used magic to teleport tiny message scrolls to the recipients. He quickly dialled in the area number of Canterlot Castle and pressed a glowing red button. The scroll vaporised into white smoke and disappeared.

Back in Canterlot…

Jack was all packed, ready to catch the night train to Manehattan. It was scheduled to leave at 2am and it arrives at 5am. He sat on his bed, watching Daring over on her side of the bed looking though her drawers to make sure she didn’t leave anything. He produced his revolver and spun the cylinder out of boredom. There was a knock at the door.

“Come in!” shouted Jack as he hopped off his bed and went to greet the pony at the door. Surprisingly, it was Celestia.

“Hello Jack, I think you should catch the train to Portsmouth. Manehattan is almost certainly in the midst of combat and the tracks will be closed in a few minutes. Two ships of my navy are currently returning to Portsmouth with a convoy of over one hundred enemy ships. If you want to be useful, go to Portsmouth,” said Celestia, stress creeping into her voice.

“Alright, princess. When is the train to Portsmouth leaving?” asked Jack.

“In around five minutes, you better hurry,” said Celestia, “And don’t you do anything rash!” she yelled as Jack pulled Daring out of the room and down the hall where all the other ponies were waiting.

“Hello Jack! You ready?” asked Spitfire as he rushed towards them.

“Let’s go,” said Jack, not waiting for the others to catch up.

Jack bounded down the flight of stairs, not caring about his aching legs, never feeling more alive than at this moment. He was built for this. He trotted ahead of the pack into the Canterlot Train Station, observing the grand building, illuminated with golden lights at night, casting shadows on the frame which looked intricate in design. Jack held up the tickets that the princess had given him to the conductor who pointed in the direction where their car was. Car G. It was again, a private car. Jack observed many soldiers board with their weapons, also heading to Portsmouth, from his window. It was early in the morning; one o’clock or so. Daring curled up next to him into a small ball, snoring quietly while Jack used an old oilcloth to polish his guns. The train lurched forward from its berth and started accelerating towards the east, flying into the sunrise.

On the EQS Equestria…

No help had arrived yet. The final reality sank in. They were doomed, unless a miracle happens. One whole night of fighting, the ammunition supplies were depleted. The two lonely ships sailed side by side, at around half a mile away from each other being trailed by a large fleet of enemy ships. The waters had calmed and dawn broke the dark night. Black clouds moved across the sky fast, like the sun was chasing them away. The orange streaks of light tore through the sky, changing the colour of the sky to a pleasant orange hue. The blue water glistened in the sunlight, and gently lapped onto the sides of the ships.

“Bismarck, are we still flooding in compartment two and burning in compartment four?” asked Iron wearily, still exhausted from taking command from Bismarck due to his exhaustion.

“We have cleared the fire but there is still a minor leak. We can barely go twenty-four knots currently,” said Bismarck from the table, where he was studying a map, “We should arrive in Portsmouth in one hour if everything goes smoothly.”

Fire Streak blasted into the bridge without warning. “Sirs, the enemy fleet is retreating according to our MADAR array on the ship. They are moving away fast. They are no longer in pursuit,” reported Fire Streak.

“Great,” said the admiral.

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

After one hour of riding the calm ocean waves the fleet of two neared the harbour, like injured soldiers limping back to camp. The sun was already around thirty degrees above the horizon. Iron could see the small fort resting on the small hill on the peninsula. They were approaching at a good speed. He could see dozens of masts that were swaying slightly in the harbour, on the other side of the peninsula.

They were finally safe. Bismarck drove his ship slowly into the harbour and took berth in the dry dock, to apply repairs to the majestic vessel. Canterlot took the other dry dock, slowly sailing in with a small tug boat guiding it. The personnel aboard the two vessels disembarked quickly through a small single file ramp that stretched between the ship and the high walls of the dry dock. Iron Skies flew warily onto the shore to be greeted by, to his surprise, Spitfire.

“Good morning Iron Skies,” she said.

“Morning, Spitfire,” huffed Iron as he walked up to her.

“Come on, let’s get you to the command room and we can assess the situation.”

“I’m exhausted…”

Undisclosed location…

An evil laugh rang through the stagnant air. “Perfect time to strike… They have been attacked!” said an evil voice, down the dark hallway.

“We demand to know who was attacked!” yelled Luna, in chains of heavy metal, magic subdued by a spell that had been cast on her five days ago.

All that answered was an evil laugh of a madman…

Chapter XXVII

CHAPTER XXVII

Iron Skies slouched wearily on his chair, sitting at a long table reporting the long course of events. Many things had happened last night, including the capture of outer Manehattan by the Drakes. According to Spitfire; there was still a battle raging in the city, where over one hundred thousand Equestrian troops were deployed. Providing the facts about the long night was easy part, but listening to Spitfire’s plans of a counterattack was pure boredom. She would talk in a monotone voice for hours on end, covering almost every possibility of how the Equestrian forces could defend and how the Drakes could attack.

Iron was comforted to see that he was not the only one that was bored in the room. He saw the brown stallion that he greeted in Canterlot Castle sitting opposite to him on the long table slouching, head on hooves not even looking at Spitfire. Rainbow Dash, the mare that Soarin was constantly talking about was sitting to the front of him while fidgeting with a Rubik’s cube that she somehow smuggled in.

“So do you have a better plan, Iron?” asked Spitfire from the front of the room, not noticing how bored everypony was (or she didn’t give a crap).

“Hmmm…,” hummed Iron, pretending to think, “Yep, its good!”

“Ok, that’s all folks, you are dismissed,” said Spitfire.

“Sweet holy Celestia, finally!” yelped Dash comically as she leapt off her seat and exited the room.

Spitfire walked slowly up to Iron. “Are you alright?” she asked with concern, “You were in such a terrible state when you disembarked.”

“Nah! Don’t worry about me, I’m fine,” said Iron, waving off Spitfire’s concern, trying to fake that he had nothing on his mind. Of course, that was a terrible lie but lying is sometimes a sacrifice you must make.

“Well, if you say so,” she said suspiciously, giving him a stern smile and trotted away.

Iron turned around, planning to walk down the hallway to reception to get his room number. The grey pegasus walked slowly, fatigued. He didn’t even notice when somepony yelled his name, and gestured for him to follow them. Instead, he crashed right into the chest of a brown pony. Oh, wait… isn’t that the pony he met at Canterlot castle?

“You alright there?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine son,” Iron replied flatly, “Watch were you are walking.”

“You were the one who crashed into me!” exclaimed the pony, “Do you want me to get somepony from the medical wing?”

“No, I’m just tired. Aboard Equestria all night,” Iron replied, “Now if you excuse me, I need to get to reception.”

“Ok… Name’s Jackson by the way,” said the brown pony as he turned and trotted up the hall.

Iron kept on wandering his way down the hall, now making sure he kept to the left wall. He felt drowsy as he pushed through iron double doors into reception. The reception was the only decent looking room in this place. It was probably because of the fact that this was the main entrance into the facility in Portsmouth. The floors were of a dark jarrah wood which was polished until you could see your reflection clearly in it. The walls were painted in a pleasant beige that suited the room quite nicely. Nice thick carpets covered a portion of the large floor space.

“Hello Fire Streak, room number?” asked Iron wearily.

“Twenty-seven,” replied Fire Streak without looking up.

“Hey, why are you doing reception work? Aren’t you supposed to be training with the first squad?” queried Iron.

“Well; one, I am tired as crap, and two, I’m actually one of the only Wonderbolts here who could do maths and other things without ripping our manes out. Remember, I got a major in economics,” Fire Streak said with a chuckle.

“Alright. Well, I won’t bother you while you are doing your stuff. Hope you get a good sleep tonight,” said Iron with a small smirk.

“Don’t worry, I know,” replied Fire Streak with a yawn, “Trust me, I’m gonna murder Spitfire for that!”

“Who’s going to murder me?” asked a stern voice from behind Iron before he turned around.

“Spitfire… One of these days you really will give me a heart attack,” said Iron dramatically.

Iron hobbled out of the reception slowly, vision burred now.

“Are you sure you are alight?” asked Spitfire

“Yes I am!” shouted Iron, stunning everypony in a fifty-yard radius of him.

“You really are not,” said Spitfire sternly, “I’m going to help you, ok? No objections.”

“Why did you ask then?” whined Iron pitifully.

“Dammit Iron! You are stubborner than you look,” Spitfire thought aloud.

“Why thank you! What a charmer,” said Iron, sarcasm dripping from his tongue.

Spitfire decided not to argue and lifted one his forelegs around her and carried him through the hallway.

“What’s your room number?” she asked.

“Twenty-seven,” replied a very angry Iron Skies.

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

“Hi there, Daring!” Jack waved at her while sitting on a hill, reading a book on military tactics. The warm sun was comfortable on his fur, the soft cool ocean breeze swept gently though his mane. The thick tree he was leaning on moved ever so slightly.

“Hello there, Jack!” she called back.

“Want to join me?”

“Sure!” agreed Daring as she flew up the hill, drifting slightly to the left, due to the stronger breeze at higher altitudes. She landed and nestled herself next to Jack, looking at the pictures of the military manoeuvres that littered the pages accompanied with ant sized writing that was barely large enough to read. She sighed contently and slowly drifted off to a light doze with the great view of the harbour in her mind.

The peninsula blocked all the views of the great ocean to the left of the slight hill that they were sitting on. The waves were just rough enough to form white caps on top occasionally on the larger wave. The sun was behind them, casting its rays at an angle to make the seawater shine and glitter with reds, yellows and oranges. It was picturesque except for the large warships that were harboured in the quay on the right side of the bay which Portsmouth had been built by.

Large, sleek machines of steel, reflecting the sunlight off its large superstructure and mast which towered into the air and held many multi-coloured flags. The large turrets encased many large calibre guns whose barrels were a number of meters long. They were a contrast to the small naval town built on the waterside, which included the architecture of old which incorporated liberal amounts of mortar and masonry. Old oaks lined the street sides with small benches scattered among the shade of the grand trees. The streets themselves were as old as the trees, cracks running through the pavement like how lightning bolts scattered in the air, but on the ground.

“Hey, Daring, wake up,” Jack nudged her in the back.

“Why?” she asked innocently.

“It’s getting cold, and I promised to see old Spits in her office at five in the evening,” answered Jack.

“Has it really been that long?” she asked.

“Yeah, and more,” Jack replied with a chuckle, “Let’s get going.”

The companions trotted side by side into the facility, through the long straight halls and large iron doors. It reminded Jack of a what a warship looked like on the inside. He had only been on one once just briefly, but it made an image that was burned into his mind. Something so majestic, capable of sailing in the roughest of seas, tumbling in the large waves which pounded the ship ruthlessly. Jack finally turned the last corner, entering through a closed door that was not locked which bore the Wonderbolts emblem.

Jack searched from door to door, each one having the name of a high ranking Wonderbolt’s name etched slightly on a brass plate and then drilled into the large iron door with silver pins. He walked down the hall slowly for a couple minutes, then finding the correct one, he knocked politely.

“Hello?” called a voice from inside.

“Yes! It’s me!” answered Jack.

“Hello Jack,” she said as the large iron door swung open to a bleak room with a desk, a few chairs lining the left side and many posters hanging on the walls.

Jack walked in and grabbed a spare chair and sat at the desk, waiting for Spitfire and Daring to do the same. The two finally settled at the desk and Spitfire pulled out a large map of the surrounding area of Portsmouth and Manehattan and laid it out on the large mahogany desk.

“Look…” Spitfire said, stress in her voice, “I really am out of ideas, we are going to lose Manehattan after a few more days of fighting, we are outnumbered two to one. Our artillery and other support forces are one week away currently marching around the Hollow Shades. We can do nothing to supress their forces without our main military power.”

“Hmmm… Well, why don’t you retreat your forces from Manehattan to the hill situated three kilometres north of Portsmouth? The support forces are only four days away from Portsmouth and you have time to dig trenches on that hill. Also, you can use your ships as artillery because they could fire from within the harbour,” thought Jack aloud, “You can retake Manehattan when you have the military power.”

“Lose Manehattan? Are you serious? We currently have out best physicists located in the heavily guarded Manehattan University, experimenting and developing megaspells! The Manehattan Project has rooms of papers that cannot fall into enemy hands,” said a Spitfire who currently looked like she was in great condition on the outside, but on the inside – mentally – she was broken. Utterly broken. One great commander to lead the forces, crippled. Tears welled up in her eyes, “What am I to do? What can we do?”

“Sorry…” apologised Jack, “I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out one way or the other,” she said, leaning close to the map and studying every feature, running a hoof through her mane.

Jack was stuck between two realms of doing; either walk out of the study like he was dismissed or stay back and help her figure something out. He hesitated for a second, turning to face the door and looked back at Spitfire. He shook his head. “Daring, wait for me in our room.” She didn’t argue and trotted away down the long hall.

Jack returned to the desk and sat down on his original chair. “So… what should we do?” he asked cautiously, sensing Spitfire’s outburst that had been kept in for hours now, colourful language and all.

She sighed in defeat and with great force, she threw the map to Jack. “What can I do?” she raged, “Why ask a question that I have asked you because I have no fucking idea!”

Jack took a good look at her, not a glance this time. There were dark shadows under her eyes and her mane was dishevelled; unkempt. “You need a good rest,” he decided at last.

“You really one of those fucking morons aren’t you?” she whimpered. Many other ponies, and close friends had told her for years that she needed a good rest. She ignored all of them, even Soarin, her co-captain.

“Well, I cannot help you right now. I can get Soarin, or somepony else if you want,” Jack said.

“Nope,” she grunted.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” said Jack cheekily and walked out of the door.

“Damn you to the fiery pits of hell Jackson! May Tartarus consume you!” she yelled as Jack exited her study.

Jack walked down the many hallways which were intricately interconnected like an ant’s nest. The architects who deigned this thing were either geniuses or madmen. Out through the reception he went, feeling the blast of cool sea wind against his fur. The sun shone blood orange as he walked up a small rocky train to the outdoor training facilities. It wasn’t really a facility, it was an open piece of ground with a few dug out trenches and a large landing strip of cleared out earth.

“Hey Soarin!” shouted Jack over the harsh winds at the slightly elevated piece of ground.

“Who is it?” he yelled back.

“It’s me, Jack!” Jack said as he neared the Wonderbolt who was hovering up in the high winds, swaying a little.

“Oh, hello Jack,” said Soarin as he landed and walked towards him, “What’s the news?”

“I was wondering, since you are co-captain and all, to see Spitfire and tell her to get god damned rest. Even the damned Princess Celestia couldn’t last how long she had. Just make sure it happens because she’s broken,” said Jack, with a hint of annoyance in his voice, “She really is a stubborn…” he trailed off.

“Yeah, I know,” said Soarin, “When I finish training this squad I’ll see to her.”

Jack walked over the slight hill again, down the rocky trail and meandered his way onto the small hill he was sitting on earlier. He sat down to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful sight, especially when the sun was setting on water. The blue water turned ever so slightly orange, reflecting the sun’s light as it set. The waves were calm and lapped softly on the rocky grey shores. The grey steel of the battleships shone a tinge of the setting sun. The small town reflected the spectacular horizons in its windows and the bleak stones of the buildings turned a slight hue of dusk. It is little moments like these that cut the hustle and bustle out of life, that make life worth living. These little things.

“Hey Jack, do you want to go get some dinner?” asked Soarin as he flew over the little hill, not using the little rocky track like he had to. Wings provided freedom that Jack could never obtain.

“Yeah, sure!” Jack replied.

Jack stood up and walked down the hill, easing the stiffness out of his legs. It was very cold now but he hadn’t noticed on the hill where he was engrossed by the sight of the harbour. He was shivering, all the warmth leeched out of his body by the sharp winds that blew against him. He trotted into the reception and entered the main hallway from a small iron door to the right side of the receptionist’s desk. He turned to the right, which was where the mess hall was and followed Soarin inside.

It was scattered with many tables and chairs stacked against the walls. It was actually quite large, and the only room in the entire Portsmouth Barracks to sport windows, except for reception. The windows were actually quite large, standing from the ground and stretches up for around two metres. It looked over the harbour into the sunset, allowing the orange luminescence of the sun to penetrate into the room, causing everything to look like it glowed with an orange hue.

“Well, don’t just stand there,” said Soarin who already went up to the counter and brought back a tray of spaghetti.

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

Jack walked wearily back to his room through long halls. It was at least eleven o’clock at night. He knew he should probably have chatted with Soarin so much, but who could blame him? Jack was an earth pony, stuck on the ground all the time, never getting a glimpse at the happenings in the clouds; like in towns that were literally made of clouds that pegasi considered ‘normal’ such as Cloudsdale. What happened up in the sky fascinated him.

Jack opened the door and trotted into his room, not anticipating what was about to happen to him. (Spoiler: He is utterly doomed. Remember what he said to Daring earlier? Yeah… that…)

“For Celestia’s sake! If you say something, you better mean it!” shouted Daring, causing Jack to wince uncomfortably.

“What?” Jack asked dumbly.

“You said, and I quote; “Daring, wait for me in our room,” end quote,” she said, “I was waiting for two hours before I decided to get dinner, and you were still not back!” she exclaimed.

“Oh… That… Sorry about that,” Jack mumbled.

“Just make sure you don’t do it next time,” she said, “Promise?”

“Ok, I promise.”

Chapter XXVIII

CHAPTER XXVIII

“War… war never changes…” – *Fallout franchise***

The first rays of sun broke over the sprawling metropolis of Manehattan, now a deserted city in the middle of a conflict that was to be resolved with blood and metal. Smouldering vehicles and craters littered the streets, providing small amounts of cover for the fighting soldiers. No guns have sounded today as of yet. A tense silence washed over the friendly troops, braced for whatever the enemy had in store. Long shadows were cast by objects that stood in the rising sun’s way, windows of skyscrapers reflecting the orange light onto the streets.

Soldiers clutched their rifles tightly, a look of fear in their eyes. They were outnumbered two to one according to what they had experienced the day before. The only thing that they could hear were the quiet songs of birds which were melancholy, as if they knew that a war was being waged at where they called home, and the sound of waves smashing into the shore in a constant unwavering rhythm.

Out of the blue came sudden sounds of high calibre guns being fired, the resonance of the lower frequency sound waves giving a clue about how big they were. The soldiers hunkered down behind sandbags placed in the streets or small trenches built into the roads. Soon came the whizzing of shells, as sure as day, signifying that they were close. The ground shook as the shells pounded down onto the allied lines, causing enormous explosions of hot colours, then evaporating into black smoke with deep smouldering craters marked the positions where the shells bombarded the lines. The fighting has commenced again.

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

“Captain!” shouted Fire Streak who busted though the double doors that led to the mess hall where Jack was having a peaceful conversation with Soarin. Daring and Rainbow Dash were sitting nearby, laughing merrily together. Spitfire was also at the table but not engaging in conversation, looking at a crack on the polished surface with a mug of strong black coffee.

Spitfire jumped ever so slightly, her muscles stiffening from their relaxed state. “Yes, Fire Streak?” she answered.

“The griffins are here,” he told here as he walked up to the table.

“Oh, right!” said Spitfire as she jumped out of her seat, following Fire Streak out of the mess hall.

“What… What? Griffins?” asked Jack curiously.

“Yeah, they formed an alliance with us a few decades back,” answered Soarin.

“I wonder what they are like in combat,” pondered Jack.

“Believe me, they are ferocious,” said Soarin with a wink.

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

“Greeting commander Spitfire, General Thunderclaws at your service,” he said proudly as he bowed.

“Good morning, general,” said Spitfire, “May I offer your army sustenance before we fight?”

“That would be greatly appreciated,” replied the general.

Soarin snickered at Spitfire’s formalities. He knew she was always uncomfortable with greeting other high ranking generals as she couldn’t use her more casual way of speaking with them, as she does with her fellow Wonderbolts. Soarin and Jack repositioned themselves, as they have finished breakfast, to another table, where they could see the conversation much more clearly.

The griffin general was large, and wearing a brown coat with his position in the army proudly displayed in the form of a badge on his right lapel. Five medals were worn on his coat, all of them glistening silver. He had a battle scar over his left eye which looked like the original wound was deep. Fortunately for him, it did not blind his eye.

Chefs scuttled with utensils and equipment out of the mess hall kitchen and moved through the reception, into a large crowd of four thousand. Everything would have to be rationed from now on, due to the large numbers of mouths to feed.

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

Dead comrades lay dead in the trenches or open ground, either in dark black pieces scorched and burned by the fires of war, or bleeding their crimson life away. How fragile life is, and taking that life away from innocent soldiers who you chose to fight against is wrong. War to solve political disputes, and dragging civilians enlisted in the army into the midst of political turmoil is also wrong. Those who lay dead on the ground, in heaven thinking they defended their country with their sacrifice were terribly mistaken, for they were just the puppets of the leaders of the country.

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

Spitfire was sitting in her small study, with Thunderclaws to discuss strategy and tactics. A large map of Manehattan was laid on the table, with many marks and symbols scattered across it with many more being added by the second. It was a tiring business, to plan every move of a whole army, for the deity who was running the country had other things to worry about. There was an unprecedented knock at the door.

“Come in!” shouted Spitfire.

“Good morning commander,” greeted a light green pegasus, “We have received reports of heavy casualties, we need to send reinforcements now otherwise, it is a lost cause for Manehattan.”

“Ok, Radar. I’ll get right onto it, thanks for alerting me,” answered Spitfire. She looked at the griffin general who was already in deep thought.

“I’m going to send two thousand of my griffins to sector A and C. If I heard correctly, you want us to defend the Manehattan University?” he asked.

“That’s correct, general,” replied Spitfire, “Do you want a messenger to alert your army immediately?”

“No, I’ll do it myself,” said Thunderclaws, “I’ll see you later.”

The general walked out of her study, into the hallways. Spitfire sighed, another heavy weight being relived temporarily from her shoulders. “Back to paper work I guess,” said Spitfire to herself with a sigh in a depressing tone.

“Awww, come on commander, it’s not that bad,” said a low voice from outside the door. Iron pushed his way into the study and observed her carefully.

“What are you here for?” she asked, now feeling uncomfortable in his presence.

“Soarin told me of how you were working your ass off the last few days,” Iron started, “And he reckons that you should get some rest. In fact, he ordered me to make sure you get some rest because he is out in the training course. Since I am a lower ranking officer, I must obey his orders no matter how much I dislike what he said to do.”

Spitfire raised one eyebrow at what Iron had to say, looking up from her thick wad of papers stacked messily on her desk. “Well, I command you to walk out of my office and tell Soarin to get lost,” she said defiantly.

Iron looked smugly at her. “Did I mention he told me to do it no matter what you say?” Iron retorted, “I’m going to literally tow you out of your office and bind your fucking legs to your bed, understood?”

Spitfire looked up at him, who was towering over her. “Not without a fight you won’t,” she said she blasted out of her seat and attempted to fly out into the hallway.

“Nope,” said Iron as he stood in the way of Spitfire, like last time in Canterlot.

Spitfire crashed into him with great force but he didn’t give way. Instead, she found herself flailing in the air and crashing onto the floor.

“What in the fiery pits of hell is happening in there?” shouted a voice from behind Iron.

“Oh, hey Fire Streak, mind lending a hoof?” asked Iron, totally oblivious to the fact that Spitfire was trying to push him out of the way of the door.

“What are you doing?” Fire Streak asked.

“I’m actually acting on Commander Soarin’s commands and forcing Spitfire to get some rest,” Iron answered, “Please help me restrain her.”

“Alright cap,” said Fire Streak plainly and trotted over to Iron Skies.

“I’s sorry we have to do this to you Spits,” said Iron sternly, “but it is for your own good.”

“I’m going to fire you both!” she barked as the two pegasi lifted her easily and started walking down the long hall.

“Hey! What are you doing with Spitty?” asked Fleetfoot, who was heading in the opposite direction.

“Acting on Commander Soarin’s instructions so she could get some rest,” they both answered in unison.

“Oh, if it is that, I’m totally fine with it,” chuckled Fleetfoot.

“For god’s sake Fleetfoot! Help me!” shouted Spitfire.

“No can’t do cap,” replied Fleetfoot, “Well, you need it.”

Spitfire totally gave up now, she relaxed her muscles and stopped trying to writhe in the two Wonderbolt’s grips. They walked down the hall, soon finding her room, signified by her cutie mark be branded on the door with flaming orange paint.

“I think I can do it from now on,” said Iron as he hauled Spitfire onto his back, “Go back to your duties Fire Streak.”

“Yes sir,” he saluted and scuttled back down the hall.

Iron opened the door with a gentle push, hearing the creaks of the hinges. The room itself was nothing special, a bed, a bedside table with drawers, a lounge. It was fully encased with iron walls, gleaming silver in the light that had been switched on by Iron. He turned and closed the door behind him, and then set Spitfire on the bed. She refused to move a muscle.

“Do I have to do everything for you?” Iron asked with a sigh.

Spitfire did not respond, electing to stay silent and keeping her position.

“Idiot,” Iron muttered under his breath as he grasped Spitfire and unfolded the bedsheets. He lowered Spitfire into bed and forced her body to lay down, followed by tucking her into bed. “I really do feel like a father now,” Iron proclaimed as he shut the lights and sat on the sofa, making sure Spitfire did not escape.

“I hate you, Iron Skies,” she said from her bed, “I really do.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Iron replied in the dark.

“Fuck you,” she muttered.

“Love you too,” mumbled Iron as he stood up and walked towards the door, “The things I do…”

“Stay with me,” she commanded as she heard the turning of the handle, “Since I’m being forced to do this, you’ll have to endure it too,” she stated plainly.

“Yeah… ok…” he answered, “Bloody Spitfire logic.”

“I heard that!” she called.

Chapter XXX

CHAPTER XXX

The sky was blocked by many pegasi and griffins, flying towards Manehattan in a spread out group to minimize casualties from anti-air systems. The squadrons blocked the land underneath them of the silvery moonlight, casting fast moving shadows on the ground. Jack trudged onwards, over the peninsula and nearing Manehattan. The tall spires were very prominent, even in extremely flat terrain. They seemed to glow in the moonlight, turning spires silvery and metallic. On the contrary, dark clouds of smoke snaked up into the air following a faraway explosion that caused the ground to rumble. The lower glass windows of the tall spires were shattered, and those that were not reflected red fires, raging in the streets of the now apocalyptic metropolis.

“Tired already?” huffed Jack as he kept his head turned towards Manehattan.

“No,” replied Daring from beside him, “I’m doing just fine.”

Jack stopped and looked through his saddlebags for the map that was issued to him when he stayed at the complex. It had very detailed information about Manehattan and its surroundings and most importantly, shows the topography of the ground.

“Well, there seems to be a hill quite close to us that is only a half a mile away from Manehattan. I’m sure I can pick a few drakes,” reported Jack and then muttered under his breath, “As long as they don’t send those bloody giant ones I’m fine with this.”

The two companions trotted on, on the narrow dusty country lane. Farmland surrounded them which held rich black soil and swaying plants that grew tall into the air. A closer look revealed the golden cobs of corn that the leafy plants hid from plain sight. They walked on for ten long minutes at a steady pace, not too fast nor too slow. They had covered around half a mile when they reached the hill. It was actually larger than Jack had anticipated, towering over the calm fields of swaying plants.

He climbed the hill with relative ease but the two aspects that made it more challenging were the steep slopes and loose rocks that littered the hillside. The hill itself was a good one hundred metres taller than the surrounding land, which gave Jack a good view of the whole sprawling metropolis of Manehattan. He set down his gear and pulled out his rifle, attaching a stand to the front of it and rested it on the rocky surface. The butt of the rifle rested on his shoulder and he peered down the scope. Jack turned the magnification levels up to twenty times by rotating a lens on the scope.

He could see into the streets now, observing ponies ducking up and down from the trenches, sometimes the odd one slaughtered due to pure unluckiness or error. Missed shots landed behind the trenches either stopping completely on the bitumen or ricocheted up into the air with a whizzing sound. The giant high explosive shells from artillery rained onto the streets which shook the ground slightly and the lower frequencies of the explosion rippled through miles of air.

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

“Hey Spitfire, what do we do now?” queried Iron as they landed on the outskirts of Manehattan.

“Well, judging by how it looks currently, I think it is fair to say that we should get involved. The Drakes are only seven blocks away from the UMH (University of Manehattan),” replied Spitfire, “We cannot afford to let the UMH fall into the wrong hooves, or claws in that matter.”

“Ok, when do we go?” asked Iron.

“Only squads one to five will go plus half of the griffin forces. Get ready, we’ll go on my mark,” said Spitfire as she walked back to her Squad, “Ready up!”

Iron walked back to his own squadron who were preparing to take their equipment off. “Don’t take it off, we’re going in for a strike very soon,” said Iron as he joined them, “And don’t turn off the safety… FIRE STREAK!”

A loud boom echoed through the air as the sniper rifle’s trigger was pulled accidentally by Fire Streak. Thankfully, he was not pointing at anypony in particular and the round whizzed over Iron’s head and struck a large birch tree.

“For god’s sake…” Iron face-hoofed so hard that a solid crack was heard, “When you are not in combat, please use your common sense (that’s if you have any) and don’t flick the safety on your rifle, and my face hurts now…”

Iron heard Spitfire laughing her heart out on the other side of the small street. “Wow Iron, that was so lame!” she commented.

“You’ll be doing the same thing in a few years’ time if you’re at least half competent,” Iron shot back, “I am older and more experienced than you.”

“I am captain,” she replied, abusing her power slightly, “No matter what I say you must obey, no matter how lame.”

“I think that changes from today onwards, right guys?” Iron asked his comrades.

A very uncoordinated “yes” and nods came from his squad. Artemis even had the courage to mutter, “Yes, we only listen to him…”

“Well, I digress,” said Spitfire, “Are we ready to go?”

“Yes Spitfire,” called Silver from behind Iron.

Spitfire looked around at squads one to five. They all looked pretty much prepared. “Alright! Squads one to five follow me in a wedge, we’re going in!” she commanded.

The pegasi lined up into a wedge formation behind the lead squad, pointing down the street so they have a bit of a runway. It wasn’t much, low density residential and commercial districts surrounded the Wonderbolts hub in Manehattan.

“Ready?” asked Spitfire as she tensed her wings, in anticipation for a very steep ascent.

“Yes ma’am,” roared the five squads.

“GO!” she yelled as the wedge took off in unison, keeping roughly the same elevation and height as each other as they ascended.

Wind rushed in Iron’s ear as they neared the conflict swiftly in the night. Yellow light illuminated their path as fires burned all things flammable in the streets. The gunshot pierced the ambient air like a blade. The wedge headed towards the enemy lines at an altitude of about one mile above sea level, which was high enough for the fog of war to cover them.

“Dive!” commanded Spitfire from the front of the formation.

They all obliged. In training exercises, the ‘Dive’ command had been drilled ruthlessly into their heads. All squads split off from the giant wedge and formed a ‘Card Five’ formation, the best to drop the small explosives that the Wonderbolts usually carried into battle. They dived spectacularly out of the dark clouds right into the midst of the enemy lines.

“Evasive manoeuvres!” yelled Iron as the enemy anti-air flaks peppered the sky with exploding shells. It created an effective wall of fire. The pegasi danced nimbly in sky, avoiding the barrage of deadly blasts.

“Drop and pull!” commanded Iron as they neared one-hundred metres from the ground. His squad released their small explosives onto the enemy lines, possible falling into the trenches where hundreds of Drakes were hunkered down, in anticipation for the attack, their claws clutching to their weapons. Iron and his squad pulled a six g turn and headed straight upwards at a seventy-degree angle, converting their raw speed into altitude. All the while, they were being barraged by anti-air shells and also by the most courageous foot soldiers.

“I’ll fall back to a sniping position boss,” called Fire Streak as he lifted his large calibre sniper rifle, “too foggy, can’t see anything.”

“Alright, I’ll return to your sector in a few hours when we have finished our raid. Look for us in the skies,” replied Iron as he flew away from Fire Streak.

Fire Streak flew swiftly to the tall hill in the distance, on which he could see two figures. He quickly pulled the ‘air burst’ stunt, where he traps a large amount of air in front of his wings, causing it to pressurise, then letting loose and riding the negative current (I don’t know if this could be done in physics on Earth for I am not a physicist, but what I do know it’s that pressurized sectors of the atmosphere would spread into less pressurized zones, thus creating wind).

It brought him swiftly to his target location, but he did learn from Artemis that this did not work every time. Sometimes it works against you:

“Don’t trust the wind for it supports you. Don’t trust what supports you for it may lead you astray. Trust exclusively in one thing; yourself, and nothing can stop you. No matter how tough the situation, believe in yourself, and you will not lead yourself astray. Follow you heart…”

Artemis did break a leg and a wing when a failed air burst manoeuvre was executed by her. It ponded her backwards into the ground in a flurry. One could actually see the gusts of wind that the air burst produces, for it is very potent in its ability.

Fire Streak circled the hill slowly in large loops, trying to loose speed slowly. There was a technique for losing speed extremely quickly but it did have a risk factor. Spitfire broke a leg and tore her wing muscles after she attempted it at training a few years back. In fact, she never really recovered from that injury. One with a sharp eye could tell that her wings were slightly out of synchronisation when she flew, because of the varying strengths of the muscle tissue in each wing.

“Hey Jack,” shouted Fire Streak as he landed with a thump.

“Oh, hey Fire Streak,” Jack greeted him as he concentrated through his scope.

“Mind if I join you?” asked Fire Streak.

“Sure!” replied Jack.

Fire Streak set down his sniper rifle onto the ground, extending its stand from the butt of the stock. He lay in the grassy surface, adjusting his scope.

“What are you doing here?” queried Jack.

“Fog is too thick up there, can’t snipe decently,” he replied.

Jack zeroed out a shot on a courageous drake who popped out of his trench to sit directly on the opposite side of the allied side’s sandbags. Jack squeezed the trigger carefully, making sure not to move the gun slightly, as even the tiniest of adjustments can cause a bullet to fly metres away from the initial target at long ranges.

A crack rang out in the air and white smoke exited the muzzle of the sniper rifle. Jack loaded the next shot and emptied the used cartridge with a flick of the lever on the right side of the gun, the metallic sound echoing through the air as an empty cartridge shot out of the side and landed on the ground with a small thump.

“Wow, that’s quite a rifle you’ve got there,” commented Fire Streak as he stretched his hoof to gauge the weight of the emptied cartridge, “and an empty cartridge is quite heavy as well.”

“Yeah, that’s what you get when you get Daring to buy a rifle, I guess,” said Jack as he threw a deadpan expression at Daring who was sitting beside him, “It really is a hassle sometimes, taking the rifle around.”

“Yeah, I’m not surprised,” replied Fire Streak as took a shot, this time the crack less prominent as the calibre of the gun was lower.

“Well, it will be an uneventful night after they figure out that we have snipers,” sighed Jack as he shifted a few metres on the hilltop.

“I think they already did…” said Fire Streak as shells whizzed past him.

“Fall back!” shouted Jack as he scrambled back over the crest of the hill as he dragged Daring with him.

Bullets ricocheted off the ground above them, high pitched whines signified that the place was being absolutely barraged by the enemy lines. They couldn’t actually get shot by the allies when they took pot-shots at the hill.

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

“Push up!” commanded Spitfire as the squadrons aided the infantry to push up, take cover, shoot, rinse and repeat.

They managed to cover five blocks in an hour of fighting, pushing through the enemy like a wedge but not without casualties though. At least sixty lay on the ground, bleeding out, unmoving and two hundred were wounded, bandaging themselves in white cloth as blood seeped through their wounds, colouring the cloth bright red.

Iron dived in for attack, unsheathing his wing blades. The steel glittered a fire orange in the fires of war, looking incredibly menacing. He came within one metre of the ground, finding the unlucky drake who was going to get cut viciously with his sharp blades. Iron whipped around, dragging his wing blades across the enemy solder’s chest, causing blood to spill out onto his blades, staining it. Loud cracks echoed through the streets as the army pushed forwards again.

“Ahh!” shouted Iron as he felt his left wing fall limp. Pain overwhelmed his senses as his wing pulsed. His own blood stained his grey feathers as he fell through the air. Spreading his working wing caused him to unbalance and start tumbling fast.

Fear. Fear was something that Iron Skies did not feel often. He usually nullified his fears by facing them but this time, it was different. This time, his fear was death. You can’t face the fear of death, nor prepare for it. Death is sudden but the moments leading up to it can be horrific. Iron felt his tongue dry as he tumbled quickly though the air. He was going to impact the ground very soon. Iron squeezed his eyes shut as he prepared; anticipated the numbness of death.

“Don’t worry! I got you!” shouted a voice from under Iron.

Iron felt like he was slammed in his right side by a brick wall. All the air in his lungs left him as the thing smashed into him. His brain could not comprehend what happened, why did he still feel every mind numbing thing? The wound in his wing and the cool air rushing through his mane. Was this heaven? No it mustn’t be. This felt more like a living hell than heaven. He felt light headed as the precious red blood drained out of him. The last thing he heard was a voice saying, “You’ll be fine… I hope.”

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

Jack spotted the silhouette of two pegasi in the air above his position. No, it wasn’t two flying pegasi, one was slumped, unconscious, onto the other’s forehooves. As they approached, he could see black droplets of an unknown liquid falling from the unconscious one’s wing. They banked back to the metropolis, but swiftly dived into a street, then disappeared from Jack’s line of sight.

“Was that… Iron Skies?” asked Fire Streak as he released the trigger his rifle from his iron grip.

“How would you know?” asked Jack curiously.

“I’ve seen him fly at night before, his mane casts a distinct silhouette in the night sky,” answered Fire Streak, “Well, I better get back to the hub.”

“I’ll come too,” offered Jack as he packed up his gear.

“No. Go back to the complex, Jack,” replied Fire Streak, “Spitfire does not like long drawn engagements. She’ll execute a tactical retreat soon.”

“Are you sure?” queried Jack, “I talked to her about holding the university and she said she would do whatever it takes to defend it.”

“Oh, well in that case,” said Fire Streak, “you better come with me.”

Jack stumbled down the steep incline towards the outer reaches of the metropolis. Cities like Manehattan did not cover too much of an area as the residents usually lived in high density apartment buildings in the city, which limited the amount of outer suburbs, which drove the cost of a piece of land in outer Manehattan up until only the richest could afford it.

Jack finally made it down the hill, now on mostly flat ground and very close to the Wonderbolt’s Manehattan hub. It was only a matter of minutes before he would be walking through the city streets, with tall buildings looming over him. The sun hasn’t risen yet, and the main power boards of Manehattan has been turned off to prevent any shorts to the electrical infrastructure that had costed the government billions of bits to perfect. This meant that it was almost pitch black in the streets, deeming it necessary to feel around with a wary hoof before stepping.

It took him several minutes to find a dim glow that shone from around a corner in a more residential part of Manehattan. It looked ghostly, especially with the light fog in the city. Jack turned the corner to see several barrels that smoke was rising out of, presumably fires were lit in them, and a lit facility that bore the Wonderbolts logo on the windows. It was a large concrete structure, almost as attractive as the architecture in the sixties.

Fire Streak flew off without him earlier and was already standing at the front of the building, chatting to Misty Fly about something. Jack walked up to him. “How is Iron Skies?” he asked.

“I don’t really know; he is currently in the medical wing. I wasn’t allowed to see him,” replied Fire Streak.

“Well, that’s a shame,” said Jack, not really knowing what to say, or to do as a matter of fact.

“Well, we are supposed to stay awake for the rest of the night on high alert… so what do you say about a good ol’ game of poker?” High Winds asked.

“Well, ok. Might as well,” replied Jack, before following him with Misty into the building, turning left through a door and into a hall. The third door down was different to the other white doors; it was made of timber. Inside they went, a large table at the centre of the room with a liberal amount of papers littered on it containing the neat block letters of typewriters.

“Hey Wave, hey Windy,” greeted Fire Streak as he sat at one of the chairs around the table, taking out a pack of cards, “Want to play some poker? I’m very sure that we wouldn’t be called into action for a while.”

The two sitting on the couch at the back of the room nodded and stood up and walked slowly to the table.

“So, are we going to use bits?” asked the blue pegasus.

“Yeah, of course!” replied Fire Streak, “That is if you have any. We can always use scraps of paper as chips. Just write the values on.”

Fire Streak pulled out ten bits out of his wing, as did the two unfamiliar pegasi.

“Hey, who is this?” asked the pegasus with the streaked blue mane.

“Oh, this is Jackson. He will be helping us with a few of the operations and this is Daring Do,” quipped Fire Streak immediately.

“Oh really? That Daring Do?” asked the blue pegasus.

“Yeah, that one,” replied Fire Streak.

“Jack, this is Wave Chill,” he pointed to the blue pegasus, “and this is Wind Waker,” he pointed to the lighter coloured blue pegasus with different shades of blue running through his mane. “Say hi guys!”

“Hello Jackson, hello Daring,” said Wave Chill, “Pleased to meet you.”

Wind Waker just nodded his head is acknowledgement as the took the pack of cards from Fire Streak and unpacked them, and shuffled them with a crisp cracking sound. He then dealt the cards quickly, giving two to each player.

“Let’s play Hold’em poker,” announced Fire Streak, “I trust that you guys know how to play?”

The ponies around the table nodded as they peeked at their cards. Wave’s jaw dropped at the sight of his cards; two kings. He definitely couldn’t keep a poker face.

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

Spitfire paced in the dark room, only illuminated by a small monitor that displayed the vitals of Iron Skies who was laying in the infirmary bed awkwardly, his wounded wing wrapped in bandages that were caked with dried blood sprawled to his side. A steady monotone beeping signified that he was still alive. It had only been two hours since the incident and Spitfire had ordered the rest of the squads currently on the front lines to keep assisting until overwhelmed by enemy forces.

Spitfire heard a hacking cough from the bed as Iron started to stir. She walked slowly to stand beside the bed as he attempted to raise his head to get a better look of his surroundings. “Where am I and why does my wing feel like it went to hell and back?” he asked.

“You got shot and you’re in the infirmary in the Manehattan Wonderbolt hub,” answered Spitfire, “So you feel alright currently?”

“Yeah, yeah,” replied Iron, “Why am I not dead? I now remember I was falling…”

“I caught you,” said Spitfire simply.

“Umm… Thanks?” said Iron, at a complete loss of words, “Do I owe you my life or something?”

“Yeah, you could say that,” said Spitfire thoughtfully.

“So… What am I to do?” Iron asked cautiously as Spitfire leaned closer to him. Iron could fell her warm breath on his nose.

“You don’t have to do anything Iron. It’s fine, really,” replied Spitfire.

“Uhh…” mumbled Iron before being cut off by Spitfire who muffled him with a hoof and kissed him on the cheek. It ended as swiftly as it had started, leaving Iron speechless.

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

“Full house! Yeah!” yelled Fire Streak as he showed his cards to the other players and scooped up a large pile of bits that were placed in the pot.

“Damn you Fire Streak. This is your seventh time in a row! Are you sure you’re not rigging it?” asked Wind Waker.

“Yup, I’m sure,” replied Fire Streak happily. “I guess four leaf clovers really are lucky,” he said as pulled out the herb of his description from under his wing.

“Well guys, I’ve had enough losing my bits over some poker. I’m going to bed,” announced Jack as he stood up from the table. That was when he realised that he was in the Wonderbolt’s Manehattan hub. “Wait a sec… We’re not in Portsmouth are we?” asked Jack.

“Yeah, so there’s no nothing. Either you can stay up or doze on a couch. Your choice,” suggested Fire Streak.

“C’mon Jack, let’s go outside,” Daring insisted, “I need some fresh air.”

“Ok, I’ll see you guys in a moment,” announced Jack as he walked out of the room with Daring trailing him.

They walked through the lobby of the hub and into the cool night air, which bit Jack’s skin sharply. The night sky was filled with the many pin pricks of white and red, which twinkled serenely. A band of white streaked across the sky, containing many more stars than the surrounding darker patches of space. It was really eye opening for anypony who first see it. They will finally gauge the scale of their own conflicts to the size of the universe and realise that they are nothing in this universe.

“Beautiful, isn’t it,” came a voice from beside Jack.

“Uhh… Fleetfoot. How are you back already?” asked Jack, “I thought you are supposed to be at the front lines.”

“Yeah. Soarin thought it was a good time to retreat so that’s what we did. Everypony was tiring anyways,” answered Fleetfoot, “and if you did not see us coming you are as blind as a bat.”

“Well, I did just come out of the hub,” said Jack defensively.

“Oh well. Let’s enjoy this since our time is ending…”

Chapter XXXI

CHAPTER XXXI

One day of your life wasted is one day you will never be able to get back. Live life to the fullest, live your dreams, achieve something, cherish it. Be remembered for the rest of eternity and you know that you have impacted the world; achieved something great…

Iron felt his wounded wing ache with small electrifying pulses of pain. He turned onto his right side, to get a better look of his surroundings, but not daring to turn to his left as he did not want to experience the amounts of pain that he would have to endure to lay on his wounded wing.

“Iron?” came a voice from behind him.

“Huh?” he asked into the darkness, “Who’s there?”

“Don’t you remember?” said the voice, “It’s me.”

Iron felt a gentle hoof touch his back. “Oh, Spitfire?”

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Iron rolled back onto his belly and touched his wounded wing gently and then stretched it gingerly. “Alright, I guess,” he replied.

“I’m just happy you’re alright, Iron,” said Spitfire, still sitting on the chair next to his bed, motionlessly staring into Iron’s eyes.

“Hey, when did you start acting so soft?” Iron chuckled, “I thought you were the captain of the Wonderbolts.”

“Well, I can’t act like that all the time,” she said defensively, “It’s refreshing to have a normal conversation from time to time.”

“I guess so,” Iron agreed and laid his head back down onto the pillow.

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

“Do you know where Spitfire is?” asked Fleetfoot who was laying on the couch.

“Yeah, where has she disappeared to this time?” agreed Soarin, “I’m going to search for her and if I don’t find her, I’m going back to Portsmouth and keeping Dash a company. Seriously, I not supposed to be the damned commander around here.”

“I don’t hope you find her, I really don’t,” moaned Fleetfoot, “I just want to go home.”

“Yeah… no. Fleetfoot please act more professional in this environment,” complained Soarin, “As you may have noticed, there has been a war raging out there a few dozen blocks away. You might want to rethink your career choices if you don’t like this.”

“Ha ha, you are so funny,” retorted Fleetfoot sarcastically.

“Well, I’ll get going Fleetfoot,” reported Soarin from the doorway, “I’ll meet you ponies later.”

“See if you can find Iron Skies as well,” called Fire Streak from beside Fleetfoot on the couch.

“Will do,” agreed Soarin from down the short hallway.

He walked up the narrow flight of stairs to the infirmary. It was dark inside in the hallway where all the windows were covered by curtains and many rooms jutted off to the sides. There was one particular room where a soft light shone from the window that was separating the room with the hallway. Soarin walked up to it and peered inside.

“Spitfire?” whispered Soarin as he saw her sitting next to Iron Skies’ bed. Soarin walked up to the door and opened it slowly.

“Spitfire? You are supposed to be leading the Wonderbolts right now. What are you doing?” asked Soarin from the small opening at the door.

“Oh… Hello Soarin… Fancy seeing you here,” replied Spitfire.

“I told you Spitfire. You can leave me here and go lead the Wonderbolts. We have a war on our hooves,” said Iron Skies, “I’ll be fine, go.”

“Ok, fine,” huffed Spitfire, her decision forced by her co-captain watching her and Iron urging her on.

After Spitfire entered the hall with Soarin and closed the door behind her. “So… What’s up with you and Iron, eh? Is something up?” asked Soarin with a wink, dropping all formalities in a blink of an eye.

“Uhh… Nothing,” mumbled Spitfire, blushing slightly.

“Oh, I know something’s up with good ol’ Spits. I’ve known you for over a decade now so I know you like no other pony does,” claimed Soarin, “And I know something’s up with you right now.”

“Come on Soarin, let’s just get down to business. Take groups one and three to patrol, we do not need so many squads anymore as we are not on high alert. Keep squads three to five here at the hub,” said Spitfire.

“Yes, I can do that but at least come and address your squads for a moment. They’ve been asking about you,” replied Soarin.

“Fine,” she deadpanned as jumped down the narrow stairwell into the main hall leading to the reception (which wasn’t in use of course).

“Right around here,” said Soarin as he leads Spitfire into the room where all the elites were.

Spitfire walked in awkwardly, not knowing what to do or how to do it. Everypony’s eyes were glued on her as she entered.

“Where have you been?” shouted Fleetfoot from the couch, “We’ve missed you!”

“Alright Wonderbolts, listen up!” commanded Soarin from the door, “Spitfire wants to address you right now about something concerning most of you.”

“Ok Soarin thanks,” said Spitfire, “Squads one and three attention!”

“Yes ma’am,” they shouted from around the room.

“You guys are on patrol duty, make fifty loops of the front lines,” Spitfire commanded, “Squads one to five stay on alert and be ready to be called up.”

“Aww come on!” lamented Misty Fly, “We just met today and you ruin my day. I think that’s a new record.”

“Well, what are you doing standing around like a bunch of idiots? You heard your captain,” came a voice at the door. At the entrance was Iron Skies, leaning on the doorframe. “Don’t worry Spitfire, I told the other squads to go back to Portsmouth.”

“Oh. Thanks Iron,” said Spitfire, “And how are you going to lead your squad? You can’t fly.”

“Don’t worry, Artemis has it all under control...” said Iron, glancing at his squad members. “FIRE STREAK! For god’s sake don’t even touch the god damned safety on that rifle!” he shouted and rushed over to him, yanking the rifle from his arms.

“Keep a lookout for this kid, alright?” asked Iron with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

He was answered by a few nods from his squad.

“Alright then, squads one and three. Attention!” commanded Spitfire from the door, “Prepare for launch.”

“Yes ma’am!” came the answer as members from the respective squads put their flight suit on and walked outside ready to launch.

“Well, I’ll see you later Iron,” said Spitfire from the doorway, “And Jack, you can do whatever you want but just don’t get yourself killed. I’m not going to do all that paperwork.”

Jack looked up from his book in acknowledgement. “Ok Spitfire.”

Jack grabbed his rifle from beside him, dropping his book onto the chair beside the couch. “Ready for some action?” asked Jack as he stood up, strapping his rifle around his neck.

“Are you really going to… Look, I’m not going to question you but this is stupid,” huffed Daring as they walked out of the glass front doors.

“Hey Jack, where are you going?” came a voice from behind them.

“Oh, fancy seeing you here Fire Streak. I was just going to take a look at the situation in the city,” answered Jack, “You’re welcome to come.”

“I’m bored already so yeah, I will come,” replied Fire Streak, “Just wait a sec, I’m getting my rifle.”

After Fire Streak had retrieved his weapon from the makeshift armoury in the back room of the hub, the three ponies took a short stroll through the abandoned city streets, hearing the occasional rumble of artillery or the high pitched whine of a bullet ricocheting off the ground.

“Get down!” whispered Jack harshly as he spotted a break in friendly lines. An enemy patrol was looking around in that sector of blocks. “There’s a stray patrol there.”

Jack could see the Drakes close up this time. When other ponies said they looked like lizards they weren’t lying. Large scaly beasts holding rifles in their claws, probably also armed with dragon fire, a very hot plasma that could burn almost anything (yes, fire is a plasma which means ionically charged particles or something).

“They’re coming straight at us,” mumbled Fire Streak through gritted teeth, “Should we engage?”

“No, don’t engage. Wait,” said Jack vaguely.

The patrol of scaly beasts approached the small outcrop of rubble, where the three ponies were hiding. Daring pulled out her revolver, causing a small sound which the lizard’s ears picked up keenly.

“Shit,” whispered Daring, now dragging their attention even more. She could hear them approaching, fast.

The scaly beasts looked behind the uneven outcrop quickly, spotting three ponies hiding. Jack could hear their shouts of surprise as he jumped out of cover and blasted one of the drakes to pieces with his rifle, sliding through the centre of the street, behind the cover of old sandbags placed on the other side of the street.

The drakes attacked ferociously as they ducked around the cover and fired ruthlessly. There were only four of them now but they still put up a good fight. Bullets ripped through the air in contradicting directions. Jack shot again with a loud bang, but this time, he lost grip on his rifle due to the uncomfortable shooting position. The rifle flew out of his hooves and tugged heavily on his neck. Jack felt his head being dragged down onto the concrete and a very painful bash. Then, nothing registered.

“Steady, Daring,” commanded Fire Streak as he fired his magazine into two of the drakes, who were now towering over them. His whole body felt very heavy, like it was made of lead as he struggled to aim his shots precisely, causing them to wound, not kill. Daring was ready to rush to Jack’s aid, but stopped herself, as the life of two is more important. She resisted every thought, every neuron in her brain that screamed to her to run over to Jack’s side, and ask him if he was okay.

She was against killing things. Daring did not think herself to be a pacifist as she still does harm to other ponies, sometimes for a living but taking another living soul’s consciousness away. It is something so much more and it is so easy, just squeezing a trigger. ‘Come on Daring,’ she said to herself, ‘you can do this.’ Her hooves holding the revolver shook as she lined up the killing shots on the patrol. Yes, they would win as they are more experienced but they would not get away without wounds.

Smoke smothered the area as gun barrels sang the music of gunpowder, blood splattering rhythmically onto the ground. Daring pulled the trigger one last time as the last drake in the patrol perished. Now, she was free to rush over to the other side of the road, where Jackson lay unconscious, bleeding from multiple places. A pool of crimson blood had settled around his body on the brick pavement.

“J-Jack? Jackson!” yelled Daring as she shook his limp body wildly, not being able to perceive properly, ears blocking all communication and eyes full of tears. “Come on, you can’t be dead, not like this!” she said sorrowfully.

Fire Streak could just stand and watch, not being able to talk sense into Daring as she wept into Jackson’s unconscious body.

A few moments have passed. The weeping had turned into light sobs but it still hurt the same.

“Come on Daring, let’s bring him back to the infirmary. I told you that he might just be unconscious so many times now,” said Fire Streak, now a little annoyed but he understood why it was normal to act like this in this situation.

With a little help from Daring, they could haul Jack’s unconscious body back to the Wonderbolts hub. Were limp bodies really heavier? It always seemed like that was the case. They carried him up the stairs to the infirmary where a nurse quickly rushed over and performed checks on an unresponsive body.

Daring and Fire Streak were told to leave and stay in the waiting room. The nurse came out a few minutes later. “Well, good news or bad news first?” she asked, “And by the way, Nurse Ambrosia at your service.”

“Good news,” answered Daring, looking up hopefully.

“Well, he’s alive, heartrate normal, breathing, everything is normal, he might wake up in a few moments,” rambled the nurse, “but he has blood poisoning and a few broken bones and bruises. It is very mild blood poisoning but it is still there. I would guess that he only has two more weeks to live. There is a cure but it is very scarce.”

“Yes?” asked Daring hopefully.

“Well, it’s called a fire flower and it is only found on Sol Mountain next to Stalliongrad,” answered the nurse.

“It is?” asked Daring as her eyes lit up, “I was planning to go to Stalliongrad so I might as well go now, I only have two weeks? Shouldn’t be too hard I guess.”

“This is a very rare herb you are looking for, it will be hard to find so don’t expect to summit Sol Mountain and find them growing abundantly on the mountainside,” said the nurse, “I don’t think they are blooming at this time of year. You might have a very slight chance to find some late blooming buds but don’t count on it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get the fire flower no matter what stands in my way,” announced Daring, “but can I see him first?”

“Sure!” replied the nurse as she led Daring to his room. Jack was lying in bed with bandages strewn across his body. As she entered, Jack’s eyes fluttered open, although not focusing on anything in particular.

“Where am I and what happened,” he managed to croak before wincing in pain as he clutched his chest, “It hurts everywhere…”

Chapter XXXII

CHAPTER XXXII

Your foreseeable future will carry sorrow, agony and anger, I see. Please do not blame yourself of all these doings. These incidents are merely, mistakes. Keep your head high, and don’t look backwards. March forwards with an air of confidence. Your work has been cut out for you and you only can complete it. Do it for him, my child…

“Jack...” said Daring in a very serious tone. She did not want to break the news to him, but it was the right thing to do, “Listen to me, alright? Every single word.”

“Yes?” Jack attempted to ask but the only audible response was a very dry croak.

“You… You have blood poisoning,” said Daring, emphasising every single word. She did not like her reality but alas, this is what life gave her and this is what she has to work with.

“Isn’t there a treatment?” asked Jack more clearly after he gulped down a tall glass of water which was sitting on his bed stand, “A medicine?”

“No. The only thing I can give you is an herb named the fire flower,” answered Daring, “Now listen carefully. I’m going to Sol Mountain to retrieve it, hopefully. Don’t do anything rash or physically demanding which could spread the blood poisoning faster.”

“Ok, I won’t for your sake,” answered Jack light-heartedly.

“No, this is serious,” replied Daring, “I must get going now. I’ll see you in less than two weeks. Know that if I don’t return, I can’t bear to see you…” she trailed off. “I’d rather not talk about the worst case scenario. Keep yourself well Jackson,” she called as she headed towards the doorway. The door closed with a light click and Jack was left in the room by himself. Loneliness will be a common visitor for the next two weeks…

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

Flying was something that Daring rarely took the time to experience. It was one of those things in life that was useful but was never required in Daring’s life. As a pony who enjoyed what they did, travelling on foot would yield a much more colourful exposure to the environment she was in, when flying would be faster, yes, but taking things slowly was one of the little pleasures of life.

In contrast, somepony’s life whom she loved was on the line here. There is ample time to spare looking at the scenery. The one and only option is to dive in deep, with no time to stop and ponder or get side-tracked. In the miniscule time frame of two weeks, anything could happen so being prepared is critical. The thought that everything will remain static in such a small time frame is an illusion. In our fluid, constantly changing world, nothing is static and all things can take a turn for the worst.

Daring spread her wings, not having opened them for a long time. Flying is like riding a bicycle; you will never forget how to do it, but the skill in which it requires to do such an activity well is lacking. (From personal experience, I can say that this statement is completely true. I can ride a bicycle but the skill I possess in doing so can vary due to exposure to. I fell off while mountain biking five months ago and had to get surgery done to correct my fractured wrist.) She took off awkwardly, banking slightly to her left side as her more powerful right wing swung her centre of thrust unbalanced. Correcting it was easy and she took off harmlessly into the sky, now deep in thought as she always was when travelling:

(These are actually my shower thoughts emptied out onto paper as an interesting filler.)

Lapis Lazuli. What an appropriate name to give to a stone that resembled the sky so closely. In translation, it means stone of the sky. It is a celestial blue in colour which looked like what the heavens currently looked like. It was twilight, and the sky to the east was a dark blue, but not quite night yet. The colour of the blue stone was exactly that shade of blue. Only if it could last forever…

Time. Time is always at work; its effects being shown through every single movement in our universe. Time itself is timeless, which would lead to the question, ‘What is time, really?’ Is it every movement of every object in the universe? Time takes a toll on everything, nothing leaving unscathed from its effects. Is time even a plausible concept? What we define as ‘time’ does not even exist, as we give meaning to the world around us, which constitutes our meaning to time? Does that mean that without beings living in a universe, there will be no time because there is no being to define it? Time… is something that only living beings can experience.

“Time is free, but it is priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can use it. Once you’ve lost it, you can never get it back.” – *Harvey Mackay***

Daring did not even notice but she was nearing the peninsula at Portsmouth fast. Flying low on the ocean was a refreshing experience. For Daring, it cleansed her mind as the salty sea spray moistened her fur and the pleasant sea air entered her lungs. She loved taking the opportunity to experience things that are rare, that can only be done once in a blue moon, but she reminded herself that this was not the time to do it.

She thought of Jack. It gave her a goal to strive towards, to achieve. It gave her motivation, a confidence burning fiercely in her heart. She set a small mental checklist when completing complex or challenging tasks. The next checkbox on hers right now was to get to the Portsmouth train station. Taking a train to Canterlot only took a day and she could transfer to a sky chariot in Canterlot. Time is of the essence, and there is none of it to spare at the current moment.

Daring banked over the golden sands on the beach of Portsmouth, headed inland towards the simple platform that is the Portsmouth train station. There usually is a train that arrives here at thirty minutes past six o’clock sundown, which is perfect. The locals would usually return from wherever they went during the day on this train. Travelling by locomotion was the second fastest form of transport anyways in Equestria.

She landed on the small concrete platform, skipping a few times due to the high speed that she came in at due to strong crosswinds. Landing the other way into the wind was impossible due to a small rocky formation to the north of the station. A makeshift clock was fastened to a pole hazardously on the platform, but it did what it was meant to do; show the time. It was six thirty already, indicating that the train was late today. Trains in Equestria do have a knack for being late to desolate stations, especially to the south of the country.

Daring saw lights on the horizon with a small column of smoke rising slowly. It was definitely the train, approaching at a blistering speed to the station. At the distance of two-hundred score yards, the screech of the brakes being applied was prominent as the short train came to a stop swiftly at the small station. It released an audible puff of air as the pistons depressurised as the craft halted. The doors swung open as a few residents jumped onto the platform and walked down the small trail to the small seaside town.

“One passenger to Canterlot?” asked the controller from the back carriage, “Very well, all aboard!”

Daring stepped onto the desolated train carriage. No other pony was riding back to Canterlot from Portsmouth tonight, as was understandable. The engine hissed as it backed up the track, ready to switch tracks then, ultimately, switching ends so it could be at the front of the train again. The process was swift as there was a T junction very close to the Portsmouth platform, with one track leading up to Manehattan.

As soon as the engine switched ends of the train, a steady column of steam signified that it was pacing steadily across the country, through farms and forests, over rivers and lakes, and canyons and ravines. The scenery was always beautiful in the country, especially at this time of year.

Glorious fall colours littered the ground in forests and the trees growing on farms shed their earthy leaves onto the ground into large heaps. The countryside glowed glamorous shades of yellow, orange and red. Shafts of the setting sun’s light beamed onto the ground, casting shadows under the wispy shadows of the semi-bare trees. The light passed through the clouds of the slightly overcast sky which, in contrast to the dead tree branches, cast large shadows that covered acres of farmland and waterways.

Everything was picturesque except for the little thing nagging at Daring’s conscience. There was nothing to do currently but to observe the world around her but being granted with free time was also a curse. It provided more time to linger on subjects that were not pleasant to ponder about such as the picture in her mind of Jack laying in his coffin. There was nothing to pull her mind away from such disturbing subjects, all she had were the clothes on her back and small pocket tools that resided deep in her pockets.

“Help me Celestia,” whispered Daring to herself as she tossed herself onto the chair in her small compartment.

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

“Hey Fire Streak! What is on your mind?” asked Artemis, who walked over to where he was sitting, head buried in hooves.

Fire Streak shifted away from her on the couch and said in a small, broken voice, “Leave me alone.”

“No,” she replied, lifting Fire Streak’s half bandaged face gently so that she was looking into his orange eyes. “What is on your mind?” she asked with little force but an air of seriousness.

Fire Streak released a long shuddering sigh, not attempting to keep eye contact with Artemis by looking at the ground. “I could’ve prevented this mess,” he said ambiguously.

“Look at me,” she whispered furiously.

Fire Streak found it hard to look up into her deep blue eyes. “I… I was involved in a firefight this morning when I went out for a stroll with Jackson. You know? That brown earth pony who’s been walking around base.”

“Yes. Go on,” she urged.

“There was a squad of drakes patrolling a block that we recently,” Fire gulped audibly, “and things did not go well after they found us there. I missed half a magazine of shots. Five shots! If I hit, I would’ve saved him! And now… he’s in the infirmary with blood poisoning.”

“Don’t dwell on the past, Fire Streak, for the future brings many challenges that you have yet to face. Do not regret what hast already occurred but look for ways to solve the problem. Dig yourself of the hole you placed yourself in so to say,” she said wisely.

Fire Streak wiped a tear off his face. “You know the feeling when you know you could’ve saved somepony from something and you fail? You feel remorse for not saving a friend who you could’ve if you tried harder,” said Fire. He paused. Fire Streak opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself. Making a cutting comment was not appropriate for this situation.

“Don’t fret Fire Streak. Life goes on and the only way you can go is forward. Let the fates determine your future,” she insisted reassuringly, “Don’t worry yourself sick. I’m sure that he’ll be fine.” Artemis knew that this was not the truth. In fact, not many ponies actually recovered from blood poisoning as the cure was so rare. The truth hurts much more sometimes, and lying calms the winds for a while but the tempest will come, she knew.

“Better give that kid some privacy,” muttered Iron from across the room, “At least I was not on patrol so I’m not to blame.”

“Typical,” said Wave.

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

The day after…

Daring stepped out of the carriage into the grand Canterlot Station. It was dark outside through the large arched windows and the inside was lit by large chandeliers, burning fiercely, hung up onto the ceiling with heavy brass chains. She stepped onto the white marble floor and looked from her platform to a large sign that high onto the ceiling, but lower than the chandeliers, making it easier to read.

‘Platform VI: Stalliongrad line,’ it said on the sixth row down. Daring walked to the wrought iron bridges that arched over the train lines. She traversed them swiftly as Platform VI approached quickly. She glanced over at the entrance to the station, above which a large mosaic of vibrantly coloured tiles was positioned. The stalls and the newspaper agency on the corner were all deserted. The clop of her hooves on the hard marble echoed through the large building. The whole station was almost empty except for a few passengers waiting for the Stalliongrad train. The billboard at the platform told that the train was due to arrive in ten minutes.

Waiting was dull for such an active pony. Daring fidgeted with her knife as she sat on the cold stone seats at Platform VI. It seemed like time passed at different speeds depending on what she was doing. Waiting usually caused time to drag relentlessly, as seconds turned into minutes, and minutes into hours. Speaking in front of a large audience or rushing through the dense jungle caused time to accelerate, causing the feeling of the experience to be very brief but powerful.

Minutes passed, and the unmistakeable creak and whoosh of the arriving train was heard in the distance. It came closer and closer, brakes creaking as it slowed, sparks flying in many different directions and the wheels on the train stopped completely and grinded against the track, still in motion. The train slowed to a halt and the sound of hydraulics depressurising filled the air. The many doors on the side of the train swung open as the passengers from Stalliongrad disembarked and walked onto the platform, most in suits and carrying black suitcases.

Daring stepped onto the train, the carriages’ insides looking almost identical to the train from Portsmouth but the compartments contained a bunk each. Travelling to the destination was most definitely the most boring of all parts of an adventure.

(Shall we skip to the interesting bits?)

One day later:

The train slowed gradually, wheels screeching in protest as they were slowed to a stop with the brake. The hissing noise of high pressure steam being released from the engine’s valves sounded, and the doors at either end of the train car swung open, revealing the medium sized station. Daring stepped down onto the concrete platform and looked around. She did notice that they passed through several tunnels to get here and now she could see why.

Giant snow-capped mountains were to the north of her, blocking her vision of anything else, even the Regalia Mountain, the mountain that Canterlot is situated upon. She heard things about this chain of mountains that snaked through the middle of the sovereign country of Equestria. She was so far south that the sun set at the north east, casting an orange light from behind the highest peak in the range; Peak Australis, which stood isolated from other peaks which were albeit, smaller.

Colours of the sunset coloured the sky to the north-east and the opposite direction revealed a deep, regal blue colour which looked like it was bordering violet. The moon was already up, low on the south-western horizon, just above the skyline of Stalliongrad which was quite a substantial city.

The racket of wooden carriages and the grinding of steel echoed from the city centre, reminding Daring that this was quite an industrious city. The architecture on the buildings were not sleek like the ones in Manehattan, and covered in glass that reflected the sky. These building were grey apartment blocks, containing small balconies and windows that cannot be seen from a distance.

Daring trotted down onto paved path that led to a road of bitumen upon which many carts and carriages waited as a transit system to transport the populous from the train station to the city, or vice versa. She had a different plan to what she normally thought of, which included staying low profile and going along with the rest of the traffic. She had Sol Mountain in her sights, which was in the Southern Range. It was considerably lower than many of the other peaks, only the tip was covered in snow. Lush green firs lined the lower parts of the mountain.

Daring was determined to head to it tonight and hopefully find it before sundown. How hard could finding a flower be? She took off down a little rocky path that led through the shrubs and curved through the hilly land like a serpent until reaching its destination, a small clearing at the base of Sol Mountain. This track was completely deserted, as tourists usually came during the summer leave, when forest flowers bloomed in the thousands, composing a colourful foreground for the mountain.

She galloped down the path, trying to beat the sunset, and extensively; time. Time really can turn into one’s enemy sometimes. The day was running away swiftly, the sky turning darker and darker by the second until all was a dark blue. Daring burst into the clearing and looked around. A small trail that was fenced off led up the mountain. The gate looked very old and rusted through like it was neglected for decades.

Daring leapt over the fence and landed softly on the other side, hooves slipping a tiny bit on the small rocks and stones that made up the fir forest floor next to the clearing. It seemed easy enough to get to the place, but finding the fire flower would nor become the issue. She started to peek at the small flowers and fungi that were growing next to the stumps of old trees that have already sprouted tiny branches. Firs were evergreen trees; this was why the forest was still vibrant in winter but the cold wind bit hard. Daring shivered slightly as the freezing wind blew over her fur, chilling her to the bones. This was the true power of the southern wind.

She finally came to a small clearing, natural and appearing randomly out of nowhere. She walked into it, feeling the soft wild grass tickling the bottom of her hooves. Something caught her eye, however. A soft red glow came from her left. As she approached, her eyes widened in astonishment as a fully bloomed fire flower lay there, unscathed by the rough pines that have dropped onto it and the winter weather.

Daring reached for it cautiously. It was too good to be true. She tentatively made an attempt to grab at the plant, but was shocked when her hoof came close and a transparent protection field, or shell prevented her from touching the plant. A voice sounded from behind her.

“What in Equestria are you doing?” it inquired roughly with a growl.

“No-Nothing,” stammered Daring as she turned round to see the stallion.

“I will be forced to shoot you, young lady if you don’t tell me. I am part of the Royal Canterlot Police Commissary and you have committed a serious crime by trespassing and now stealing from government property. How do you plead?”

“I have a friend ill with blood poisoning, that is why I am here, harvesting this flower,” replied Daring.

“Are you aware that you are trespassing government owned land and all that grows on this land is entitled to the royal family and high ranking officials?” asked the officer.

“No, I was not but I’m sure we can organise something. Like send a letter to the princess or something?”

“It will take one and a half weeks to arrive at the castle and the same amount of time back,” he informed, “and also, I won’t bother with sending a letter. Your friend would be dead anyways. Stop trying. Fire flowers cost an astronomical sum of money and stealing them is a criminal offence.”

Daring felt fire course through her veins but kept cool on the outside. “Where can I buy one of these flowers?” she asked.

The officer laughed like it was the most preposterous question he ever heard in his life. “Buy it? You need a permit, qualification, registration and everything!”

Acting on impulse right now would be a great mistake. It took a fair bit to stop herself throwing a punch at the officer and knocking him out cold. The remedy was so close… yet so terribly far out of reach. “Look. I don’t have time to waste. How do I get one of these damned things?” questioned Daring threateningly.

“Well, firstly you need to have a doctorate at the University of Canterlot or Manehattan. Then, you need permission from the princesses themselves and need to be a registered member of the academic honour society of Canterlot. There are a few minor details that I have skipped but if you fall into that category, you will have the right to either harvest or purchase one of these flowers, but I’m afraid there are no other ways.”

Daring racked her brain for details of her past. She did not really remember many things from when she was younger, probably wiped out by her vibrant memories of adventuring all across Equestria and beyond. And how did she get money to make those trips? Aha! That tiny card they embedded in her wing actually was useful. “I have a PhD in the University of Canterlot in the field of archaeology,” she responded, stretching out her wing to reveal the small card that was filled with credentials and whatnot.

“Yes, I do see that clearly, but do you fall into the category I described?” replied the officer calmly, “Since you cannot provide those details, I am forced to detain you for the night at the station for trespassing and the attempt to steal property owned by the monarchy.”

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

“Morning, Ambros–,” yawned Jack. He stopped mid-sentence. “Where is Daring? I haven’t seen her for two days!” he inquired curiously.

“Oh. I told you before that you have blood poisoning, right?” asked Ambrosia.

“Yes. Yes, you have.”

“Daring was confident to find a fire flower to cure it. She is currently in Stalliongrad and I couldn’t stop her from going. It’s her nature,” she smiled sadly, “I don’t know what will become of her but I hope for the best. Meanwhile, we are trying to get in contact with Celestia. Squadrons one to three will be withdrawn later this week due to the fight dying down and we are low on provisions anyway.”

“Ok,” was all that Jack managed to say before Fire Streak walked into the room. Jack was half expecting Daring to be standing there.

“Jack. Message from Celestia,” he announced.

Jack took the rolled parchment and tore off the seal and unrolled it to reveal the neat writing of Celestia greeting him:

Dear Jackson,

I have heard that your friends have contacted me about the case of blood poisoning you have. I am currently searching through my alchemists’ cabinets, trying to find the cure called fire flower essence. I hope you feel well.

Best of wishes,

Princess Celestia

Jack thought for a moment, to ponder how to respond. “Quill and parchment please,” asked Jack. The requested materials were provided to him immediately by Fire Streak. Jack scrawled untidily on the parchment:

Dear Princess Celestia,

Thank you for caring for me but I will have to ask of one more favour if that is alright. Daring Do is currently in Stalliongrad trying to search for a fire flower to cure my illness. Please send word that there is no need for that anymore.

Thankyou,

Jackson

Jack rolled up the parchment and handed it to Fire Streak. “I trust that you can get this letter to the princess. How long is it going to take?”

“One day if we are lucky but the train line has been bombed again,” replied Fire Streak.

“Can’t you get somepony to fly it over there? It is very urgent because I have a feeling that something very bad has happened,” asked Jack.

“Well, if it is that urgent, I can probably get Fleetfoot to fly it to Canterlot,” said Fire thoughtfully.

“Ah, yes. First squad is off duty for the next two days. Wait a sec, I’ll ask.” Fire Streak handed Jack back the letter before he dashed down the hallway and Jack heard the door being swung open and slammed shut loudly.

(If you still cannot guess what Fire Streak is, he is a messenger/radio operator in the second squad.)

Seconds passed quickly and they turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Jack found himself staring at the clock that hung above the doorway, with a pendulum swinging precariously under it. Jack was about to give up waiting and doze off. He was feeling much more tired recently and had cold chills through his body frequently. He passed them away as shock, but knew deep down that with each symptom of blood poisoning he receives, one more step he takes to heaven’s doorstep.

It was three hours later that he finally heard the door opening roughly and the sound of hooves clacking upon the floor. Fire Streak appeared with Fleetfoot following close behind. “Hello Jack,” she said in an offhand manner. “So I am a courier now, am I?” she said sarcastically at Fire Streak.

“Come on Fleet, it’s not that bad. You were a first class mail courier before you became a Wonderbolt,” Fire Streak retorted.

“Whatever,” Fleetfoot brushed him off and trotted over to Jack. “Letter?” she asked, “And to whom, may I ask?”

Jack took the letter from his bedside table and held it up to her. “Address: Canterlot Castle, Recipient: Princess Celestia,” Jack recited.

“Oho! Sending a letter to the princess?” she chuckled, “Welp let me not put this message on hold any longer. Goodbye!” Fleetfoot turned and headed out of the room swiftly. Through the window, Jack saw her take off in a burst of speed and disappear into the light blue sky.

What will happen to Daring? Find out next week in the next chapter of Far Away. I’m really sorry for the cliffy! (No I’m not)

Chapter XXXIII

CHAPTER XXXIII

Anger is not at fault for violence. Stress is not at fault for mistake. The only one at fault is you, for allowing your emotions to control you. Mutare vos cogitations.

The bright fluorescent lights inside the police station made Daring shield her eyes as she approached it, following the officer obediently. She did have the option to run away right now, but decided against it as she did not want to cause herself to be in a deeper hole than she already is in. She followed him through the glass door into the station. He led her through several corridors, then into a small room. It was painted completely white and the only objects that resided inside were two oaken chairs and a metallic table which reflected the bright light harshly into the observer’s eyes.

“Wait here,” ordered the officer, “Somepony will come shortly.”

Daring sat herself down on one of the chairs and contemplated about the situation she got herself into. She had one week and four days to do whatever is in her power to save Jack; it was a race against time. She watched the clock that hung on the wall tick, the thin second hand clicking constantly. The door creaked open after a few minutes or so and a unicorn with a black mane and grey coat entered with a small, cream coloured file that seemed to contain only a few pieces of paper, some dangling out the back.

“Good evening,” he said in a cultured accent, “How do you do?”

“Good, sir,” Daring responded, forgetting to ask the unicorn if he was well also.

“Good. Let’s get to the point, shall we?” he asked rhetorically. “Firstly,” he started, “My name is Videre, and I will be asking you a few questions tonight.”

Videre paused for a moment, and silently prompted Daring to give him her name. “My name is Daring Do,” she said.

Videre took out a writing pad and quill and started writing on it, not turning down to look at his page as the quill was under the manipulation of his magic. “So, under what circumstances were you led to trespassing property of royalty and attempting to steal a precious flower know as a ‘fire flower’?”

“You see, my friend in currently situated in Manehattan has developed blood poisoning through the means of a shell through the shoulder,” Daring replied, re-thinking every word to make sure she did not screw up by accident.

“I see,” replied Videre thoughtfully, “Manehattan? Yes?”

“Yes sir.”

“Well, I do not know if you are telling the truth. There is currently a war raging on and Manhattan is currently mostly occupied by enemy forces. May I ask, how do you know of this because only military personnel are allowed in the region of Manehattan currently and no letters are allowed out of the area unless approved by Commander Spitfire who is currently commanding the regiments there,” informed Videre smartly, tapping his quill on the table with a steady beat.

“Yes, I am aware of that, and I was there because my friend is on good terms with the princess and was willing to fight. He is probably the most talented sniper in these lands,” Daring retorted.

“That is very unlikely, but I shall hold you as innocent until proven to be guilty beyond reasonable doubt as the Equestrian Constitution dictates under article three, section five. We shall find a court as soon as possible to resolve this issue. Charges of trespassing land owned by royalty and stealing precious assets from it can land you a – let’s see…” said Videre calmly, “Fifteen years in imprisonment in a medium security gaol.”

“Do you not believe me?” asked Daring in astonishment, “Just you wait, Videre. The princess will side with me.”

Videre shrugged indifferently. “That’s something I hear very often, madam. Also, since you committed a criminal offence and the act was observed by an officer, we have the authority to detain you until you appeal before court.”

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

Jack heard the hushed whispers of discussion and the frantic galloping of hooves in the building though the whole of the day. He finally mustered the strength to stand and walk for short periods of time. One major inconvenience was the wound in his left shoulder, which hurt every time he moved the corresponding limb. Jack hobbled slowly down the stairs and made his way to the room where all the noise was coming from, out of sheer curiosity.

Jack approached the door and heard the scratching of quills and pens on paper, the tapping of impatient hooves on the table and the pop of the caps of the ink wells being untightened. He peeked inside to see a large room with a massive table spanning the length of it with ponies sitting on either side of it. At the front of the room, a large map of Manehattan was hung, beside which a blackboard was situated with a very scruffy and annoyed Spitfire standing in front of it, raising a hoof to silence the room.

“Ok! That’s enough!” she yelled over the din, projecting her voice so all could hear, “Silence!” The room fell silent immediately as she had commanded, the fires of anger burning in her eyes as she stared at multiple specific Wonderbolts around the table. She then looked up at the doorway to look at the clock that was situated above the metal frame, and saw Jack leaning against the door. “Come in Jackson. No need to cower,” she said, now directing the centre of attention to Jack, who was standing at the door feeling uncomfortable at all the attention he was getting.

“No, I’m fine Captain,” he replied, stepping a hoof away from the room.

“I insist,” Spitfire countered.

Jack gave in to her comments and walked into the room and sat down at one of the many spare chairs around the table. “If you insist,” he whispered inwardly with a sigh.

“Alright folks!” Spitfire began, “As you all know, we were planning to withdraw from the front lines this week. This plan will be unfortunately, postponed. We are the elite ranks of the army, and when our nation is under threat, we are there. You probably did not notice that last night, a team of enemy scouts have infiltrated the UMH. We luckily have extracted our scientists the night before and took all important documents as well. A lot of documents remain, and if the drakes can out two and two together, they will also have megaspells.”

A tense atmosphere fell over the ponies sitting at the table. Some flinched at the idea. Most knew not what a megaspell was but assumed that it was something very destructive due to the name.

“A report has also come in about a presence in the Everfree Forest. The Bureau of Magic has detected a strong aura over the Everfree and issued a high alert to the citizens of the surrounding towns and villages. I have decided to send squadron two to investigate this, to scout the area as they have done before. Squadron four shall fill in squadron two’s missed patrol shifts. That’s all folks,” Spitfire ended, then paused. “And also, please take care. We already have enough injuries to deal with.”

Jack stood up quickly, and immediately regretted it. He felt his head ache with small, continuous electric bursts. He saw the room twist and turn in bizarre ways and stars swam in is vision. The only thing he thought he could do was to crash back into his chair and clutch his forehead with his hooves, rubbing his temple. In the bustle of the room, nopony noticed Jack as they impatiently made their way out of the room. Nopony except for Fire Streak, who was already planning to see Jack.

Fire cast his eyes around the room, trying to find Jack. His brown coat and mane made him especially easy to find, contrasting with the blues and greens which were the most common colour varieties for pegasi to be born with. Fire Streak spotted him almost immediately from the other side of the room. He saw him clutching his head in his hooves, like he was pained in some way.

He leapt across the table to the other side of the room and trotted up beside Jack. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Fire Streak asked with concern.

“N-nothing,” Jack stammered, attempting to stand again to prove that nothing was wrong. As he did, a piercing pain shot through his head again, and forced him back onto the chair. “Balefire, this hurts!” he cursed.

Fire Streak spotted what ailed his friend and offered a hoof to get Jack back into the infirmary. Jack willingly took the offer, grasping Fire’s hoof and pulling himself up and then started to lean onto him for support. There were exactly two things in Jack’s mind right now: firstly, ‘get the hell into bed and take painkillers,’ and secondly, ‘where is Daring when I need her?’

Jack stumbled his way up the narrow flight of stairs up to the infirmary and entered his small room and crashed into his bed. Jack reached out for the painkillers on his nightstand and the tall glass of water. He threw the small white pills into his mouth and gulped the water down ferociously, then setting it down back on the small table and wiping his lips, all the while being watched by a very indecisive Fire Streak.

Fire Streak contemplated helping Jack but by the time he had entered Jack’s room, Jack was already gulping down the painkillers. “Better now?” was all Fire asked.

Jack nodded and settled into his fluffy pillows, which were sagging under the weight of his head. He turned slightly and angled his head so he could see out of the windows into the dark sky and let loose a long, shuddering sigh. Out of the drawer, Jack pulled a scroll of parchment that he was working on earlier and handed it to Fire to let him inspect.

“Wait… What?” exclaimed Fire Streak, “You’re going to live Jack, trust me. Even Celestia is behind your back, remember?”

"This is a precaution, Fire Streak,” explained Jack irritably, “Just read the god damned thing.”

Fire Streak scanned the page and gasped at what he saw. “This must be… a mistake,” he muttered, “It must be!” In bewilderment, Fire turned to Jack. “Are you really leaving fifty thousand bits to me?”

Jack nodded. “You saved my life, Fire Streak,” he said solemnly, “Now I shall do that act justice.”

“Also, you are leaving no money to your relatives, Jack,” added Fire Streak.

“My parents have passed already and I have no siblings,” answered Jack, “Leaving money to those closest to me is the only option I have.”

“I-I’m sorry,” apologized Fire Streak, “I never knew.”

“Don’t worry, you don’t have to be sorry. The one who has to be sorry is me. I have not yet thanked you for saving my life yet, and I don’t think I can ever. I am forever in your debt, Fire Streak.”

“Before you go on, I wish to reveal something to you, Jack,” Fire Streak said hurriedly.

“Yes?”

“You wouldn’t have been in such a state if I shot the drake who injured you earlier,” Fire Streak stumbled over his words a bit, “I missed half a magazine of bullets.”

Jack stared blankly at Fire Streak, who shook slightly, which was not noticeable to the naked eye. Fire’s muscles tensed in anticipation of whatever harsh words would be tossed at him, as would have happened if any of his comrades were in the same position. None came. “And may I inquire how that changes anything?” asked Jack, surprising Fire Streak greatly.

“N-no. It changes nothing, yes. Just a small detail you might’ve wanted to know,” Fire Streak blurted out almost too eagerly, flooded with relief that what he had anticipated did not come his way.

Jack raised an eyebrow quizzically, but then, he learned not to ask too many questions. “Ok…” Jack sighed, “It really does not change anything.”

The door slammed open in the awkward silence between the two ponies and a familiar light blue mare trotted in with a scroll in her mouth. She trotted up to Jack, dropped the scroll on his head and sat down onto a spare chair. “Well, the Princess got your message and replied,” she announced, “Also, she wants you back in Canterlot by the end of this week. She wouldn’t tell me why when I asked so you’ll have to find out yourself.”

Jack opened the scroll, which revealed the following:

Dear Jackson,

I have alerted my secretary, who is currently in Stalliongrad about the situation. He will be on the job straight away. Also, if Fleetfoot did not tell you, I expect you to be at the castle by the end of the week. We have a few pressing issues to discuss. I shall not write them here due to the possibility of interception of this letter and the confidentiality of the information.

Yours truly, and forever,

Princess Celestia

“So… How do I get to Canterlot?” Jack asked at nopony in particular, more like asking it to the room and air.

“Easy. Use the train,” replied Fleetfoot casually, brushing her wings with a hoof.

Jack sighed inaudibly. “That was a rhetorical question.”

Chapter XXXIV

CHAPTER XXXIV

Let not sorrows engulf your life. No matter if you give up or not, time will always pass. Time will drag everything along with it, no matter what until it dies, or is just no more. When you are just no more, post mortem; not walking on this planet anymore, be content of what you have done and strive to do evermore within your power. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.

The train swept calmly along the tracks, as smoothly as ship sailing on calm seas, swaying slightly. As the train sped away from Manehattan, Jack could see the billowing smoke of the smouldering craters and rampaging fires in the streets. The windows that were not shattered reflected harsh shades of red, and the occasional flash of white from a firearm. High towers have toppled over, leaving the skyline looking abnormal compared to when Jack came to Manehattan in the first place.

Hours dragged by slowly as the landscape flickered by. It felt like years have passed when the train started ascending the mountain gradually, spiralling up the tall spire of rock until reaching a tunnel whose coated with marble and gold. Lanterns hung from the ceiling of the tunnel, which gradually opened up into a large spacious hall; Canterlot Station.

Jack walked down the small hallway of the train, and exited through a small door on the end of the carriage. The station was bustling with young colts and fillies; the reason Jack knew not as he made his way to the exit of the large building as he has done many times before. Reaching a reasonably sized hallway, Jack turned and headed out through the large archway onto the busy city streets. Life here seemed to go on without the effects of war influencing the day-to-day lives of the citizens.

Jack almost automatically walked up the streets without taking heed of anything. The castle was there where it always stood, spires towering high above the city, white marble and gold accents gleaming in the sun of high noon. Jack was broken out of his trance by a couple of guards stationed on the corner of the streets he was crossing.

“Hey there!” one of them shouted, “Come here please.”

Jack trotted over to them, weaving through what traffic there was at this time of day. “Yes sir?” he asked respectfully, something obscure he learned from Daring on his last visit.

“Are you aware that you must rid yourself of any firearm before entering this city?” asked he.

“No, I was not,” replied Jack with a lump in his throat. He had brought both his rifle and revolver with him, but not after a brief disagreement with Spitfire. ‘Damn her for being right,’ thought Jack irritably as he confronted the guards.

“Well, in that case stranger, we will confiscate your firearms for the time being and return them to you when you leave the city,” the guard said monotonously.

Was Jack going to give his priceless rifle to him? Hell no. Was he going to give his revolver to him? Hell no! He had his revolver by his side since college and that was never going to change. A rare, prized rifle? No thought even required. It’s like handing somepony a title deed to a mansion! “I do not have any firearms, sir,” responded he.

“Well then. What’s this?” he asked as he flung Jack’s trench coat up into the air, revealing a rifle strapped over his shoulder.

Shit. They must have detecting spells. Jack contemplated making a run for it. Will he succeed? Maybe. The castle is only two blocks away but these guards have magic. Well, maybe just hoping for the best could work. “Bye!” And he was off!

Jack dashed through the city streets, coat billowing in the breeze behind him as he made his daring escape to the castle away from the guards. The two guards were in hot pursuit, following Jack’s every move. Situations like this were what these guards were trained to handle from the start. Causing minimal havoc was quite difficult with two lumbering guards chasing him.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Adrenaline pumped through Jack’s veins as he dodged incoming ponies and jumped over carts. Almost there. Jack made it into the home stretch, now galloping up the path leading to the castle doors. Jack was caught off guard by the two guards now stationed at the doors.

Jack leaped as they lowered their pikes to block the entrance. Twisting awkwardly in the air, Jack managed to leap over their pointy sticks but not without injury. A small gash opened on his flank, crimson blood slowly trickling out. He landed on his side, knocking the wind out of him as his rifle clattered onto the marble before him.

“What in the world is happening?” came a firm voice from above Jack.

Jack opened his eyes to be staring at the white forelegs of the one and only princess of the sun. He looked up to see her face, on which a small frown resided. “Uhh…” mumbled Jack before she shushed him.

“No, not you, Jack. Please explain yourselves,” she directed at the guards.

“Princess, he was carrying firearms into the city and refused to give them up,” replied one of them.

“Did not I say to excuse any military personnel?” asked Celestia irritably.

“Princess, he was not wearing any military uniform or was carrying any identification,” said he, the terribly scared guard.

“Oh. Well, in that case, you are not at fault. Just remember this pony’s face. He will be appearing more often here than before,” said Celestia, all traces of her slight anger disappearing without a wisp or trace, “You can go back to your positions.”

“Yes, princess,” they obeyed obediently. As they went, Jack swore he heard them sigh in relief. He wondered what punishments were like here. Celestia didn’t seem like one who would hand them out anyways.

“Well,” said the princess as she turned her head towards Jack, “Let’s get your wound fixed, shall we?”

Jack made an attempt to stand from the marble floor, but the wave of pain that throbbed in his head that occurred before in the Manehattan meeting room came upon him again, forcing him back to the ground where he started, clutching his head in his hooves, grunting in agony as a cold chill passed through his body.

“Are you all right?” asked Celestia with concern as she looked upon Jack. She did not expect an answer but asked just in the hope that Jack would communicate what just happened to him. (It could be regarded in all respect as a rhetorical question, but I digress…) Celestia sighed and her horn lit with a soft golden light, which also encased Jack’s body. “Well, at least writhe in agony somewhere comfortable,” she reasoned to herself, smiling at her own sense of humour, which may I add is more existent than ever because everything seems funny in a serious situation, am I right?

Celestia levitated Jack off the cold floor without exerting much energy and carried him up a long arching flight of stairs, through some ever existent hallways and then into her small study. She settled Jack onto the couch at the corner of the room as she sat on her office chair and cleaned her desk of parchment and papers, and ink pots and quills.

After a couple of minutes, Jack relaxed and almost all traces of his past pains were gone. He felt inquisitive right then. “Princess?” he asked from his casual position.

“Don’t call me princess,” was the only answer that Jack received. He took that as a yes.

“Why did you want me here?” Jack asked in the same tone a foal would use to ask his/her parents for sweets. “You know, when I started picking Drakes off, I felt the fires of patriotism burn inside me!”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at his statement. “I’m not surprised,” stated she monotonously. Then she added with a twinkle in her eye, “I always sensed you were a patriot.”

“Well, can you get to the point?” asked Jack.

“Ah, yes. I asked you here because there are a few… political tensions with Stalliongrad and their surrounding territory. They are currently part of Equestria, but they were conquered by Commander Hurricane moons ago and were part of the long dead communist empire of the Vaporeus. Vaporeus is currently a faraway country of pegasi, and we have a few dealings with them. The government house in Stalliongrad had vetoed a direct congress with all the officials in other parts of Equestria. Now, they are trying to rebel against Equestria, and them being our primary arms manufacturer, this will be the fall of Equestria if they succeed. We do not have the manufacturing power to arm an entire army alone without the help of the industrial districts of the southern regions. A civil war is the last thing on my mind right now and they are refusing direct orders from me to free Daring and my secretary is there to figure some… issues out,” informed Celestia, her voice turning from warm to cold in a matter of words; in a voice that made Jack shiver uncontrollably.

Celestia noticed this and asked, “Are you cold? Or was my tone too harsh?”

Jack nodded, but not at any answer in particular.

“Oh yes. I have news for you. Good or bad first?”

“Good please, I have had enough of bad news for one day,” replied Jack in disheartened manner.

“Well, the good news is that my secretary was in contact with Daring and he delivered a letter via the Royal Equestrian Espionage Bureau. Do want to see it?” she asked.

Jack sat up straight excitedly. “Really?” he asked, “If that is true, I shall read the letter at once!”

Celestia produced a roll of parchment, and passed it to Jack. Imprinted on it was the royal wax seal. It said:

Dear Jackson,

I don’t have much time to write, but all I want you to know that I am fine here in Stalliongrad, and I still love you very much. I am terrible sorry about not being able to find you a fire flower. Doing that is being my capabilities right now. Don’t worry about me too much. All I request from you is a letter, no matter sent or not. It comforts me that a little piece of you will remain by me. Goodbye.

With all the love that can be had,

Daring

Jack saw splotches on the parchment, probably Daring’s tears as she wrote the letter. A tear ran down his cheek and dripped onto the table before him. He turned the letter over and grabbed one of Celestia’s quills without asking and scrawled untidily:

I’m sorry.

Jack rolled it up and passed it back to Celestia with an air of sadness hanging in the room.

“And the bad news now,” Celestia said speedily to make conversation again, “is that I could not find any fire flower essence.”

Silence reigned the moment. The slight whistle of the wind and the miniscule movement of the doors on their hinges could be heard. It took a few minutes to sink in, and ten to accept it.

“S-So I am soon to be dead?” Jack managed to choke. He must admit that death was one of his greatest fears. It is horrifying that a living sentient being would no longer feel, or be conscious. To be no more, simply put.

Celestia sighed. “As much as I hate to say it, yes. Unless a miracle occurs, you will pass. It’s a shame that fire flowers aren’t blooming at this time of year.”

The dark storm clouds rolled over the sky. The crackle of thunder echoed through the castle’s spacious halls and the pit patter of rain was heard from the study. Violent flashes of lighting lit the dark horizon as the rain soon started to sound heavier, carrying small hailstones with it, pelting the roof mercilessly. The horizon towards the east where Manehattan lies was glowing a dull shade of red, with angry black clouds covering the fallen skyscrapers that was the centrepiece of the Manehattan skyline.

There was silence again. Both of them stared out of the window as the water hit the glass panes and slid down in tiny droplets in a complicated dance. Smaller droplets were eaten up by larger ones and all of them followed specific trails down to the bottom of the pane of glass, like there was an invisible force guiding it. Jack felt like there was something controlling his life now. Much more directly than fate would. Like the paths that the water droplets were forced to slide down, Jack felt as if all of the recent happenings were the guidance of some force, forcing them to travel down a set path, good or not.

“How should I spend my last days?” asked Jack to nopony in particular.

“That is up to you,” replied Celestia, “It’s getting late, how about we head down to the dining hall and let me suggest to you some things you should do over dinner?”

“Lets.”

Jack and Celestia walked back down the arcing flight of stairs and then into the dining hall, which was already set pristinely for supper. Plates have been laid out, and candles have been lit. Celestia gestured for Jack to take a seat next to her at the head of the table.

“I must say, one thing you must do is to see your loved ones one last time,” said Celestia sombrely, “I’m sure they’ll want to as well.”

“Except for Daring, I have nopony who is close to me. No family,” said Jack bitterly. Dwelling on this subject was hard for somepony who lost both their parents at a young age, and had to fend for themselves with no support.

“Then see you friends, and do whatever you can to see Daring. Do whatever is in your power to complete this action.”

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

Dinner was a sombre affair, and getting out of the dining hall was a relief for Jack, who yearned for some fresh air. He headed up to his quarters given to him by Celestia. Open the balcony doors went as Jack walked outside to take a deep breath. The cold wind rustled his fur and blew his mane, which glistened in the silver moonlight.

It was a peaceful night. The stars were shining brightly, and twinkling merrily, like nothing has ever happened to this land, but, in contrast, the moon looked more dark and ominous than ever before. The princess of the night is still missing, and the moon seemed to reflect that by casting a darker light over Equestria. The stars lie, the moon doesn’t.

With a sigh, Jack walked back into his warm room, closing the glass balcony doors and pulling the curtains over them. He slumped onto the large comfortable bed and thought of his chaotic past. Specifically, one memory. The one he shared with Daring that night. Jack wondered if that was what was going to happen to her. Jack could not imagine Daring living every day, feeling incomplete. The days would drag by, and the more time went on, the more the questions would develop, sometimes questioning the existence of oneself. Solitude would be the motto that she would live by.

Jack desperately prayed for her that these things would never happen, but in his head, they were already becoming a reality. Denying something you already believe leads to obsession over it.

Chapter XXXV

CHAPTER XXXV

In life, you meet many people, and they reveal once hidden doors to you in your path. It takes no effort to see what lies at the surface of the door you opened, but it takes true courage for one to step through and discover the full yield of the path the door led you to. There are many opportunities given to you in life, and it is up to you to take them.

The sun rose, and so did Jack’s confidence and optimism. The talk with Celestia the night before sure did help. Jack had finally accepted his situation, and wanted to make the most of his remaining time in this world. Through the night, he stayed awake long hours to laboriously plan everything out, and decided to visit Stalliongrad on his own.

Apparently the city was about to turn into a rogue city state if nothing was done about stabilizing the city politically.  Although Jack was not much of an academically minded pony, he knew this meant something bad. Leaping down to the dining hall and telling Celestia of his plans was what he planned to do that morning.

With aching legs and all, he dragged himself into the dining hall to see Celestia already sat at her seat, reading the newspaper. “Morning princess,” Jack greeted politely.

“Morning,” came the response, slightly muffled by the newspaper.

“Is there any transport to Stalliongrad today?” Jack asked, “I have decided to go there myself and see the situation.”

“Oh,” said Celestia, dropping her newspaper onto the table, “You made that decision fast, but I must warn you of the potential outbreak of riots on the streets and whatnot. As to your question, I can arrange a chariot if you want, or you can take the train.”

Jack pondered the options presented to him. Either he could take what Celestia said, or he could go retrieve a copy of the locomotive time table from the station. The chariot would probably stand out too much and the chances that he would be shot out of the air would probably be quite high if all this revolution stuff was genuine. “I think I’ll take the train.”

“Well, in that case, if I can recall the facts correctly, I believe there is a train headed towards Stalliongrad at noon,” Celestia, recalling the facts as if she was reading from a worn sign where the letters were almost indistinguishable.

“Thank you, princess. I will head into the town now, for the rest of the morning,” announced Jack, as he turned and started heading out. Before he can though, he caught Celestia gesturing for him to stay. Jack spun around again to face her.

“I have another pony who is very eager to go to Stalliongrad. I think it might be better if you go with him,” said Celestia. Since she is princess, the implied meaning is more like, ‘There is another pony who would like to go to Stalliongrad. I command you to travel with him.’

“Can I meet him now?” Jack asked curiously, wondering who this mystery pony could be.

“Yes you may,” answered Celestia as started walking (trotting) in the opposite direction (I just realised: can horses/ponies walk? Or do they trot?). She guided Jack through the castle. “As a matter of fact, he is here right now,” she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

They trotted together into a hall where Jack had never wandered before. There were various doors leading off to unknown rooms and perhaps other halls. She stopped before a large mahogany door, which had a plaque that had ‘Professor Sunburst’ engraved on it.

Celestia pushed open the door, which creaked on its hinges like it had never been opened in a century. Inside was a small office, warm in colour scheme with sequoia bookshelves that lined all walls of the room, with an oaken desk and chair, upon which was sitting an orange unicorn with a frizzled mane and beard of a darker shade of orange than his coat. He wore a pair of spectacles, over which he looked at the ponies at the door.

“Good morning princess,” he greeted, “Who is this you have brought, may I ask?”

“Good morning Sunburst,” Celestia replied, “This is a friend of mine, who will be travelling to Stalliongrad on the noon train. I know that you wanted to go for quite a while now, so the present might be a good time?”

“Ah yes,” said Sunburst as he rose from his chair and began introducing himself, “My name is Sunburst.”

“Pleasure to meet you, my name is Jackson,” responded Jack in his usual manner.

Sunburst went back to his desk and opened a drawer and pulled out an old saddlebag, which he started filling with old weathered maps he retrieved from cabinets and bookshelves, and a multitude of books, new and old. “So, what business do you have to go to Stalliongrad?” he asked Jack casually.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it,” Celestia announced as she left the room and closed the door.

“I’ll tell you later when we have the time to sit down. It’s a long story,” replied Jack.

“Ah, ok. Well, I’m all set,” said Sunburst as he looked through his things.

The two ponies silently walked out of the office, shut the door behind them and made small talk.

“Why do you want to go to Stalliongrad then?” Jack asked curiously.

“I heard a powerful magical artefact resides there. A certain ‘amulet’ as I have been told.”

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. “An amulet?” he asked.

“Yes, an amulet,” replied Sunburst not knowing what stumped Jack, “What’s wrong?”

Jack started trotting again, matching with his new companion’s brisk pace though the castle. “That’s a long story as well, but shorter than the reason why I wanted to go to Stalliongrad. I believe time is sufficing to tell you on the way to the station.”

“Do tell,” Sunburst encouraged, curious about the subject.

“Well, I was travelling through the Oreientallis jungle with a close friend of mine, and we found a temple…then the eagle carried the amulet off to an unknown location.”

They reached the steps of the Canterlot Station, and walked up the grand steps to the entrance. The station was much more empty than usual, though still awfully congested at the first platform, which has a circuit line leading to and from the neighbouring towns and villages like Ponyville and Little Almshoe to Canterlot.

Sunburst followed Jack through the thinned crowds to platform nine, where the line from Canterlot to Stalliongrad was located. The only other ponies waiting at the station were either journalists or members of the Federal Equestrian Parliament, distinguished by the emblem they wore on their coats or blazers.

After a few minutes, the familiar sound of the creaking and mechanical engine approached. The train stopped at the station with a puff of air, depressurizing its pistons. The two companions boarded the train, and found an empty compartment, and settled in for the long journey ahead. They soon struck up a merry conversation as the train lurched forwards towards their destination.

“So, tell me a bit about yourself, Sunburst,” Jack suggested as they sat across from one another, a wooden table bolted to the floor between them, on which stood a pile of books Sunburst was flicking through absentmindedly, “Since we are travelling around together, might as well know a bit about each other?”

He looked up from his book, pushing his spectacles back up to his eyes. “Well, alright, but you need tell me about yourself as well. Treat this as… an exchange of information.” Jack nodded, and Sunburst continued. “I grew up in a small parish to the west of Canterlot. It was a quiet town, like what Ponyville is right now, but smaller. I went to school there for one year, and I was an avid book reader, unlike other foals. I stayed inside most of the time, practicing magic and whatnot. I earned a scholarship for Celestia’s Magic Academy after I was emblazoned with my cutie mark just before grade two of my studies. I won’t go through the finer details about my past but I can say that now I am a supreme battlemage. Lieutenant General Sunburst at your service.” He ended with a small bow.

Jack was surprised that Celestia hadn’t told him about Sunburst being a battlemage. Though he did not know much about the workings of the Equestrian Forces, he knew that being a battlemage was a great achievement. Years of training and service to the crown was mandatory to become a battlemage, one of the most powerful forces in battle, and the fist of steel that bends the course of wars.

“So, tell me a little about you,” Sunburst said, as the sky turned a shade of orange and long shadows were cast by little irregularities in the ground.

“My life was, and still is a mess. How do I begin?” pondered Jack, stroking the longer tufts of fur that stuck out of his chin thoughtfully.

“Wherever you think is the best place to start,” answered Sunburst.

“Well, since I never told you why I wanted to go to Stalliongrad, let us start with that. It is a long story, I should warn.” Sunburst just smiled and nodded encouragingly, almost like when he was talking to Celestia. “Well, I am a wanderer. I like going from place to place. It never occurred to me that I should settle somewhere. I was wandering through the Eastern Plains when…” Jack told Sunburst about how he met with Daring, what his first experiences with her was like, going into detail with the most traumatic ones, to convey the fear he felt more clearly than ever. He told him of how he joined up with the Wonderbolts and come to know of Celestia, and how he fought briefly in the battle for Manehattan. “… and here I am today, still living. It’s a miracle, and I do not know how the fates led me through.”

“So, you are on good terms with Celestia, Luna, the Elements and the Wonderbolts?” Sunburst inquired inquisitively, not believing his ears. It was dark already, and Jack went to light the lantern hanging on the roof. There was a switch at the door, which magically projected a flame, which lit up the room.

“Yes, apparently, I’m hated by all nobles because I’m on good terms with all the most popular groups of ponies, and loved by royalty. I really don’t know how to feel about this,” Jack sat down again in the now bright compartment and chuckled.

“I’m sure that if the nobles got a chance, they would put a bounty on your head,” said Sunburst with humour gleaming in the blue eyes of his, “You basically outrank all the nobles socially now, and you aren’t even one of them. In their eyes, it is a crime to do that. I learned that through the years of experience I have obtained by living in Canterlot.”

“Indeed,” came the response from Jack, “I wondered what all those stares meant?”

“Pray tell, how has it come to be, that this young mistress came to be imprisoned within Stalliongrad?”

“I would rather not talk about it now. It’s getting late,” retorted Jack. “I shall answer any questions you may have on the journey back.

It was an uneventful journey to Stalliongrad. They arrived shabby platform that served as a station for Stalliongrad arduous hours after they left Canterlot. Both ponies were keen to stretch their legs after being in a train for so long, and get a fresh breath of air. Grass grew between the cracks of the concrete path that led to a main road with a small unkempt sidewalk that led to the city itself.

“We just need to find Stalliongrad Prison now,” groaned Jack as he looked at the seemingly never-ending stacks of high rise apartments that littered the town, all looking almost exactly similar than the tower standing next to it.

“Well, you’re lucky I brought a map with me. It pays to be prepared,” winked Sunburst as he pulled it out of his saddlebags. He unfolded the fragile piece of cardboard paper and studied it. “This map does seem to be quite old, I must say. I’m sure we can use the bigger landmarks to guide us though, it’s not like Stalliongrad could’ve changed too much in five years.”

“We have no time to lose, then. Let us start right away!” said Jack as he started trotting down the cracked concrete path with Sunburst following him, his horn glowing as hovered multiple objects that might be of use including the map, a compass and a pencil.

Chapter XXXVI

CHAPTER XXXVI

Stalliongrad was a much larger, and populated city than the two ponies had imagined. The streets were bustling, even though it was nowhere close to rush hour yet. Tall grey concrete apartment buildings stood everywhere around them, almost no vibrant colour was in sight. Sunburst was forced to put away his instruments, and fold the large map awkwardly to travel properly in the saturated streets.

“We are nearing the Monumentum Austim Fortis,” observed Sunburst as he looked up from the old map, “Looks like we need to take the right at the second intersection coming up.”

The space was crowded, so it was practically impossible for two ponies to walk aside one another, due to the differing speeds of different ponies on the road. Jack succumbed to following Sunburst after a few attempts. Apparently the map marked the Monumentum Austim Fortis as a major landmark, and now Jack knew why.

The memorial loomed up ahead, standing proudly in the busy, dull city, protruding at least ten metres from the ground, bearing a large gilded plaque, with many engravings of which Jack couldn’t pick out at such a far distance. The statue was actually multiple carved pieces of amber adhered seamlessly by some sort of magic, because Jack had never heard of an amber piece of ten metres in height. It contrasted nicely with the unsaturated greyish buildings, and cast golden light to the area around it, speckling the surrounding buildings and roads, the sun’s light refracting through the brilliant gem.

They walked through the first intersection, and was headed towards the second, but they were on the verge of turning when they spotted a white unicorn frantically waving them down. Sunburst and Jack were indecisive if to go over or not, but gradually after some awkward shuffling, they turned and headed towards her.

As they approached, she gestured for them to follow her to the side of the road, where it was more calm, and freer of ponies. As they walked to the side, she frantically whispered, as if she did not want to be heard. “You two know what’s going on here?”

Sunburst looked at Jack, who shook his head. “No, I do not.”

“Well, it is quite clear that you two come from Canterlot. Battlemage, you stick out like a sore thumb in the crowd, wearing your robes,” she addressed Sunburst courteously, “A civil war is on our hooves. A particular group in Stalliongrad are pushing for a separatist movement, sending propaganda to the citizens of this city, and most of them are swallowing the lies that have been laid before them! Atrocious! Well, I digress. My name is Snowy Blast, current Stalliongrad correspondent to Canterlot Castle. Follow me and I’ll tell you more.”

The two confused ponies hesitated slightly, not knowing if the unicorn who revealed herself was a friend or foe. Seeing this hesitation, she produced her ID card. “I’m a mare of my word,” she winked.

Snowy Blast led the two ponies down a much quieter side street. It seemed that she knew the city quite well as she wound down alleys and backstreets. These small roads were shabby places – some patching up could be done. They were dark and damp, with warm water dripping from external radiators for the refrigerators and central heating/cooling. Finally, after what seemed like hours of winding down small paths, they reached a manor street, although not as busy as the one they had come from, it still carried a substantial amount of traffic.

“Ah, now here we are,” she announced as she strode in front of a bright white door, and produced her set of golden keys. They were in front of a small two storey home now, with ample place for a front yard and garden. They have already travelled to outer Stalliongrad, where the architecture was much nicer to the eye, and consisted of real colours, not just shades of black and grey (if you are thinking 50 Shades of Grey, go to a mental specialist). With a twist and yank, they were inside.

The innards of the house were furnished with oaken floorboards and the walls were painted a nice light blue hue, with the ceiling white, decorated with ornate snowflakes, matching Snowy’s cutie mark. She led them through the living room into the study, where a simple wooden desk stood with a candle, which was lit when Snowy opened the door to the room. She strode to the office chair and sat down, gesturing for the two to follow suite.

“Now, I won’t take much of your time, but there are some important matters of which I would like to discuss, since you are in Stalliongrad,” she began, “And one thing you do not ever do in Stalliongrad is wear any robes or clothes that remotely suggest you are working for the Princesses.”

She lifted a hoof at Sunburst, “Now I know that you are a battlemage, so pray tell what business does a battlemage have here?”

“There are some relics I wanted to take a look at in the museum, and I have merely come to accompany my friend here, who still hasn’t told me why, but I have an idea of what.”

She eyed Jack curiously, and then nearly leapt out of her chair in surprise. “Oh, it is you!” she said excitedly, “I have heard of the many good deeds you have done, Jackson. I know what you are here for, for I heard all about what happened.”

Jack shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“There have been some dire circumstances in Stalliongrad, for they are pushing to be a separate state, governed by Vaporeus, for they agree with their system of communism more than they agree with Equestria’s system of principality and partial democracy.” As she said this, she rummaged through various drawers set into her desk as papers fluttered everywhere. She finally found the document she was looking for and passed it to Sunburst. “Now, this ‘rule’ I have been talking about had been set by the leaders of the movement. It was decreed one week ago that anypony wearing those robes or clothes will be tried and sentenced for betraying the dominant party.”

Sunburst looked at the document she passed to him. It was a formal document, containing all the information of the decree that had been passed. It was signed at the bottom by a pony, whose signature is indistinguishable to his eyes. He flipped through the small wad of papers, shaking his head at regular intervals. “Denouncing the princesses?” shouted he, “That is an act of betrayal, we should act at once!”

“But it is not that easy, battlemage, or we would’ve done that long ago. Stalliongrad, as you most likely know is the workshop of Equestria, manufacturing a range of things from weapons to fashion accessories. Now, they have also been manufacturing and testing the ‘Manehattan Project.’ Because of this, it is extremely dangerous to forcefully take Stalliongrad back, as peaceful negotiations have been attempted and failed. I presume you don’t know what the Manehattan Project is?”

Jack nodded, a surprised look was shot at him from both Sunburst and Snowy Blast.

“I figured that it wouldn’t hurt to tell you, but since you already know… How did you come to know of this? It is highly confidential!” asked Snowy curiously.

“I was involved in the battle for Manehattan, and I was told about it,” Jack said simply.

“Alright then, since you know what it is, I presume you can deduce why it is so dangerous to take Stalliongrad by force?” queried Snowy again.

Jack swallowed thickly, knowing the only answer, which was terrifying but true. “Megaspells?” he asked tentatively.

A solemn nod came from both ponies, who stayed silent for the time being.

“Well, I have some business to get to. It was a pleasure meeting you, Snowy Blast,” Jack farewelled.

“No, no! The pleasure was mine, dear Jackson. If you ever need me, don’t be afraid to stop by. After all, I am a battlemage,” she said as they headed towards the door.

“I knew it!” Sunburst muttered, “I felt the aura.”

“Pray tell, battlemage, what is your name?” asked Snowy from the door.

“Sunburst,” answered he.

“Farewell, ponies, and may the magic of harmony stand by you!” she waved.

Jack followed Sunburst. “The station seems to be on this road!” he announced, “We’re in luck!”

After half an hour of slow trotting in the mostly empty street, they came to a busier zone, where the station was located. It was a white building, cleanly contrasting with the grey spires that surrounded it. The windows were of bars, and the sides were lacking balconies, which the buildings around it had, setting it apart from the normal sequence.

The entrance was elevated by a few steps, probably to catch anypony attempting to make an escape. Sunburst now followed Jack, who was trotting up the stairs and through the glass doors. Inside the police station was a white desk, with a red emblem engraved at the front. Harsh white lights shone from the ceiling, lighting the white tiles on the floor and white walls to a horrible brightness.

Jack walked up to the front desk, unsure of what to say, but the receptionist talked for him. “Here to visit a prisoner?” he asked monotonously.

“Yes,” Jack answered shortly.

“Name?” requested the receptionist, as he produced a long scroll of all the prisoners in the gaol above.

“PhD Daring Do,” answered Jack as Sunburst walked up beside him, in his robes, now grey since he magically altered their appearance for a finite amount of time.

“Ah, I see. I shall send a request for you to see her right now,” the receptionist said as he rose from his desk, and strode into a corridor that was behind him.

Jack trotted to the corner of the station, where a couple of couches were placed, and he sat. Sunburst followed suite, but both were not in the mood for conversation.

A couple of minutes later, the clip-clop of hooves could be heard gradually coming closer to them. It was when a police officer stepped out of the corridor, and headed towards Jack. “Good afternoon sir. I have been informed you wanted to see a prisoner here,” he greeted.

“Yes I have,” replied Jack.

“I sense you have weapons on you. You may keep the ammunition for them at the front desk for security reasons,” ordered the officer, and Jack followed the command. “Now, follow me.”

As they ascended the prison, Jack could hear the screams of the tortured, and the moaning of the ones deprived of sustenance. It was a horrible atmosphere, and threatened to drive Jack’s mind to insanity. It did not help that he felt pangs of coldness in his veins, a common side effect of the later stages of blood poisoning. Jack followed the officer into a small room, where there was a pane of glass separating it down the middle. The officer offered him a seat, and pulled out a clipboard with a pile of papers attached. Sunburst entered as well, after a short delay.

“Sir, what charges were laid upon Daring?” Jack asked.

“Theft against the crown,” he replied.

Jack wanted so badly to shout ‘bullshit!’ because of the circumstances that Stalliongrad was in. They were no longer loyal to the crown, and were still using that as an excuse to charge ponies of a crime? “What did she steal?” asked Jack.

“A fire flower,” he answered, “It is a very potent magical plant that can cure ponies of many illnesses, and for reasons you may have deduced, this is why she was arrested.”

Jack thought for a moment, passing ideas though his head to figure out what to do. He finally decided to test his theory that they will not obey a letter form the princess. After rummaging through his saddlebags, Jack was sure he had a copy of Celestia’s letter to him. ‘Aha!’ he mentally shouted as he pulled out a scroll bearing the solar emblem.

“Celestia has given a release command for Daring,” Jack said, as he gave the officer a better look of the scroll, “Since you are under the princess’ command, being the police force of Equestria, you have to obey.”

At that moment, Daring was brought in by one of the guards, with dark bags under her eyes and an unkempt and dirty mane. Jack’s heart sunk at the sight of her. As if she could read his mind, she did not give away any joy she might have experienced from meeting Jack. She just simply walked in and sat down on the single chair in the opposite side of the glass pain.

She did not know what was going on. She saw Jack with an unknown pony waving a scroll with Celestia’s emblem on it to the officer. The officer seemed stumped as to what to do. The world was confusing to her after she left her cell.

Jack smiled at the officer’s hesitance. Finally, he said, “I will consult the deputy, and see what he says.”

A little while later, a grey pony with a large build came in with the scroll in hoof, which didn’t look like it had been opened to Jack’s surprise and comfort. It was not actually a release order, so he would’ve been doomed if they had opened it. It was a high risk gamble, but it payed off.

The pony sat down, and looked at Jack in the eye. “Do you have any idea of what happened?” he asked. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, “Some of us who are still loyal to Celestia have been weeded out. I am one of the only left, my rank saving me. I will obey this release order but only under one condition: that you will not tell anypony in Stalliongrad, and keep her concealed. By the way, here is your ammunition as well, you’ll need it,” he winked and opened the door to the opposite side of the glass, and released Daring from her chains. “You are free,” he said.

“Wait until we get out of this ok?” growled Jack as he saw her approach. She nodded in understanding.

They snuck out of the prison, but was headed down the corridor to the lobby when a guard yelled, “Hey! Those ponies have ammunition!”

Shit. Just. Got. Real.

Guards arrived with rifles and pistols and opened fire. It took some time for Jack to pull out his revolver, but he managed in time to return fire, under the cover of Sunburst’s shield. The crack of guns echoed loudly down the narrow corridor as guards ducked in and out from room entrances. Jack knew this could not keep them at bay for long, as their constant fire had drawn the stamina out of Sunburst.

Soon the shield flickered out, and Jack was shot in the leg, pain bursting from the limb, crimson dripping onto the floor. That was when the unexpected happened: a miracle! “Need some help?” asked a female voice from behind as a new blue shield, cackling with energy covered them. Beams of white froze the guards in their paths, and imprisoning them in a wall of ice.

“Let’s get out of here!” shouted a familiar female voice roughly from behind Jack, who did not dare turn around to see who, for his eyes were glued to the combat that was occurring, fearing the moment he turned away would be the death of him.

Daring heaved Jack further and further back, as Sunburst worked his healing spells. “You’re lucky I learned a bit of healing in the academy,” Sunburst grunted as he used his magic.

Jack could stand – barely – but with an indescribable amount of pain shooting through his injured limb, but the adrenaline pumping through his body helped him to stay conscious, and limp out onto the side of the room, where Daring and Sunburst were already grouped up, looking like they were waiting for something to happen.

“Group up, teleportation incoming!” announced Snowy, as she swiped elegantly with her horn to cause a guard to freeze in his tracks. “One three! One. Two. Three!” And they were off!

The blue aura surrounded the small group of ponies, suddenly whipping them out of the station to safety, with a blinding flash of light. Jack stumbled, and fell limp on the floor, feeling like every part of his body was utterly shattered. Pain shot up his leg, and pangs of coldness ran through his veins. He grunted on the floor, in a feeble attempt to move.

Snowy Blast stood beside him, working her magicks onto Jack, healing his wounds and mending bones. Perspiration ran down her forehead as she concentrated on mending Jack’s physical injuries, and scanning him over to see if he had any unknown conditions unknown to her. She looked up in shock at Sunburst as she said something Jack could not hear. He watched Sunburst nod solemnly.

She used her levitation spell to carry Jack onto an armchair, and propped him up with pillows. “Jack,” she said in a serious tone, “Did you know you had blood poisoning?”

Jack nodded feebly, wincing as he tested his once broken hind leg.

Snowy sighed, “I do not have any fire flowers left, I’m afraid, and it seems like your friend here really wants to see, you so we’ll leave you be for the moment. I’ll come check on you in half an hour, ok?” Then she walked out of the room, closing the door leaving Daring alone with Jack.

Without warning, she pounced on him, hugging him strongly in her hooves. “I missed you so much,” she whispered. Jack felt reinvigorated in her embrace, mustering enough energy to return the favour.

“Me too.”

Chapter XXXVII

CHAPTER XXXVII

Some actions may seem evil. But sometimes, a necessary evil must be committed, along with its consequences to serve the times, which may be dire, but will be for the greater good for all.

Half an hour passed swiftly, in the warm embrace of the mare he loved, but other things made Jack’s mind trail away from the moment, and nagged at him from the deepest depths of his brain that this was not going to last. None of this will. In due time, he we return to what he, and everything else was; dust.

The door creaked open, revealing the white mare who opened it with her telekinesis. She walked into the room, and sat in the armchair that was placed under the window, where the dimming rays of the setting sun was shining through, casting long shadows in the room. “So, how are you feeling?” asked she, as she levitated a scroll from the table beside her.

“Physically, not too good, but I guess I’m in utopia right now, ignoring my physical ailments,” answered Jack, as he released Daring from his grip and turned to Snowy. “What news do you have for me?” he asked, sensing that she was about to break some information to him.

“Good news or bad news first?” she asked, later whispering to the indecisive Jack, “Trust me, you won’t want to hear the bad news first,” with a blink.

“Alright then. Proceed.”

“Canterlot has finally developed the first megaspells for the war effort, and a few groups of pegasi have patrolled the Everfree, and pin-pointed Luna’s location. Bad news… I… I’m sorry…” she breathed heavily, at the verge of tears, “The Drakes have the blueprints to megaspells.”

“They what?” exclaimed Jack, as he leaped out of his chair, stomping at the floorboards with a loud clop, “They got hold of the bloody megaspells?”

Snowy Blast nodded solemnly, retraining any emotion to surface on her physical self, although Jack could see the swirling black clouds in her mind, revolving around one single dark singularity.

“This was what we were trying to prevent all the way along,” muttered Jack furiously, “Manehattan has fallen, right?”

“Yes, the resistance was pulled out recently,” she whispered, “The Drakes found copies of the megaspell blueprints in the university after they stormed the city.”

“And of course Stalliongrad has some because they are ‘the workshop of Equestria’, am I right?”

Snowy nodded again, but adding hopefully, “These megaspells are prototypes. They have not been tested yet due to the recent circumstances, and may not function completely.”

“I guess we all need hope that our situation will be resolved, hope that we will not be annihilated, and hope that Equestria will stand strong in the ashes of her opponents,” uttered Daring from the chair beside Jack, as she continued to play idly with a compass she found on the table.

Jack’s ears turned towards the door, as it creaked open. Sunburst stepped through into the room, mane dishevelled and robes creased. “I sent a few letters to the princess, via the battlemage network, and did a bit of light research into fire flowers. It seems that they do grow around here, and also sold here for a decent, though steep, price. I will go to the market tomorrow to see if I can get you some, Jack.”

“Thank you Sunburst,” answered Jack, “I will repay you the amount of bit if you find some on sale.”

“Well, we are all exhausted and the time has come to rest,” announced Snowy Blast as she rose from her armchair, and headed for the door, “Come, you two. I will show you your quarters.”

The snow white unicorn stepped up the stairs, located at the central hall, just after where the door to the street was located. They were a little narrow, but enough to fit one pony climbing up at a time. As Jack ascended, he saw framed pictures of Snowy on the walls. One was an especially large one, with her wearing white robes, with a white magician’s hat on her head. Jack assumed it was when she graduated university.

Jack stole one last look at it, after stepping onto the second storey, and into a small carpeted room to the left of a short hallway. Snowy motioned for them to listen, “This will be your quarters for when you come to Stalliongrad. I don’t want risking detection, or any of you being detected by the movement. You will always be welcome at my home.” She smiled kindly, and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

Jack turned, and took a good look of the room. He observed that there was one desk in the corner, a door which presumably led to the bathroom, and a wardrobe. There was one problem about this room, he thought. There was only one bed, which was a queen size. It would easily fit two ponies, but the prospect of sleeping with Daring was still a little foreign to him. Being independent for his whole life, and then having many ponies being thrust into it was a very large change, that affected Jack psychologically. He didn’t complain about his company with Daring, but even though they had done this before, he felt more comfortable being independent.

Well, he couldn’t do much now could he? ‘Screw it,’ he told himself mentally, ‘If I end up fucking her in the end, so be it!’

“Well, I’ll go take a shower,” Jack announced from desk chair. He received a not from Daring and walked into the bathroom.

The floor tiles were cold to the touch, sending little shivers up Jack’s spine as he treads lightly on them. He turned on the shower tap, waiting for the warm water to flow through. He tested the water periodically with his hoof, then when he deemed it warm enough, he turned on the cold, and stepped in.

The warm water felt good splashing on his fur, washing the sweat and dried blood away. The grime on his coalesced with the soap he used, the suds turning a shade darker than it usually was. Standing in the shower was a pleasant affair, feeling the water massage the tight muscles in his back, relaxing his body. It was like a temporary trip to heaven.

After a countless amount of time, Jack shut the water and stepped out onto the now slippery, wet tiles. He found a fluffy white towel on a rack, and dried himself promptly after which, he returned into the room. Daring was absentmindedly playing with a pen, looking out of the window with a long stare, like nothing but what she was focusing on was real in the world. She frowned a little as Jack tapped her on the shoulder.

“Go take a shower. You’ll like it,” he said, as he lay on top the bed, taking a book from his saddlebags, and opening it to his bookmark, which was a small badge that looked a little like…

“Hey, where did you get my badge?” questioned Daring as she looked at Jack closely.

“I picked it up from the floor when we were escaping the police precinct. I thought it looked nice, and that it would be a shame to leave it behind,” replied Jack, “I never knew it was yours. Here,” he said as he handed the badge over, “You keep it.”

“Never mind,” mumbled Daring as she stepped into the bathroom, “You keep it.”

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

Morning came like it always did, the sunlight streaming into the room, through the window illuminating the curtains. Jack attempted to stumble his way out of bed into the bathroom, but felt a heavy feathery heap atop his chest, barring him from performing any actions that required getting out of bed. He cracked an eyelid, looked down, and saw Daring’s wings sprawled across the bed. It looked like they have not been well kept.

Jack had no choice, but to push the wing off him. As he did this, he felt some resistance, which made him push harder. The strength of the wing pushing down on him mirrored his strength he pushed up with. Jack smirked as he thought of what he was about to do if she kept resisting. He realised that Daring was wide awake, pretending to sleep, trolling him. ‘Let’s see if she can keep her act up,’ chuckled Jack as he leaned over her and started to nibble her ears.

He could see a blush spread across Daring, but she kept her act, without a crack. Another pony would’ve not noticed that Daring was awake if she did not have the blush on her cheeks. She suddenly flared her wings, finally letting Jack out. “Alright, alright! You win!” she huffed.

Jack made his way to the bathroom silently, and flashed her a wink on his way. Jack saw the longer tufts of hair on his chin, realising it had been weeks since he had shaved, and then realising that he did not pack his shaving knife. “Shit,” he mumbled to himself, as he splashed cold water onto his face. He brushed his teeth, and slipped on his trench coat from the hook next to the glass door that led to the shower. He patted his pocket to see if his revolver was still there, assuring him.

He unlocked the bathroom door and stepped out, and was surprised to see Sunburst standing in the room was well with Daring. “What’s going on?” inquired Jack as he straightened his coat.

“Jack, a chariot is waiting for all of us to return to Canterlot. I’m afraid to say that the central industrial district has started a revolution. Soldiers are heading into Stalliongrad now, and all willing citizens are being evacuated,” he said. “Oh, and the princess has something for you that you may like,” he added.

After packing everything, and helping Snowy look around for precious possessions she might’ve missed while packing, they stepped out of the door to be greeted by a white coated stallion with deep blue mane, a deeper darker blue than Luna’s which was absolutely mesmerising. Only it didn’t flow like the princess’ because it wasn’t ethereal.

“Lieutenant Star Streak at your service,” he said with a bow, “We are here to pick you, your mistress and Battlemages Sunburst and Snowy Blast from Stalliongrad. We shall discuss these matters later, but now the priority is to get you to safety.

The guard gestured for Jack to wait, as the others boarded. Then he turned to him and said, “I’m placing you in charge of the Magical Gatling Laser mounted on this chariot. We use this model of chariot in the Equestrian Air Force. All you need to do is to switch the safety, and plug this thing into it,” he handed Jack a glowing gem of sorts, “and then shoot at the entities attacking the craft. This gem should last us enough time. We need to fly over the Stalliongrad CBD for the most efficient travel time.”

Jack boarded, and located the giant laser. He slipped the gem into a slot, and switched the safety with a small click. “Weapons: ready!” he shouted to the Lieutenant, who motioned the soldiers to get the craft airborne. A blast of cold air met Jack as he soared through the air. Stalliongrad does look very different from the sky. He could hear the cracks of guns below him. He saw a group of pegasi headed straight for them.

“Open fire!” shouted Star, and Jack obliged. He locked his iron sights onto the head of the formation, and started firing with loud electric zaps. The recoil from the laser was significant, but he reasoned that lasers can’t make ponies recoil, so it must be some law of physics he did not understand. The pegasi who were in hot pursuit split from the tight group they were in before, into a much more spread formation. Red beams tore through the sky, some hitting the pegasi. Jack gasped in surprise as he turned the pegasus to his left into dust, which swirled and fell to the city streets below.

With trembling hooves, he reengaged with the remaining four pegasi. One of them drew a small black device from a small sack tied to his side, and tossed it through the air, landing it with a clatter onto the chariot floor. “Get that bomb off the chariot!” shouted a guard, who had a dark grey coat, and… bat wings? She was dressed in dark blue armour, matching the night sky instead of the shining golden armour the other guards were wearing.

Sunburst used his magic to toss it back to its sender, the device exploding as it made contact with the pegasus’ body, sending blood splattering over the chariot, and into the pegasi flying in formation beside him. Jack felt the laser click, and the red beams stop firing from the rapidly rotating laser chambers. “It’s empty!” he announced loudly.

“No. I detect an EMP,” shouted Star over the din, “Must’ve fried the circuit-board.”  As he made this statement, the chariot started sinking and lagging, not keeping its previous steady pace. “Damn it! Must’ve fried the circuitry that maintains the niobium superconductors as well. Expect a rough landing!”

As the chariot slowed, the remaining pegasus unsheathed his sword and flew aboard. Jack whipped out his revolver from his coat to see Daring doing the same thing, Snowy and Sunburst flaring their magic to restrain him. One round to his face later, blood stained Jack’s coat, and the wooden floorboards of the chariot. Jack looked from the window to see that they were far enough north that they have made it to a small town in the yellow barren plains.

The chariot was losing altitude quickly. The ground rushed quickly to meet them, and with a sickly creak and small explosion of all the chariot’s parts, they were down. Jack climbed out of the wreckage with minor injuries; a bruise or two across his body as did Daring. The rest of the crew climbed out, the gravest of injuries; a sprained leg.

“Ah, what town do I see there?” muttered Star to himself.

“We must have flown at least fifty miles north! I believe this is Dodge junction,” answered Jack as he heard the lieutenant’s muttered words, “Come on! Let’s seek some help.”

After around ten minuted of walking through the barren plains, they hit the first building in town. The whole town looked old, and wild west style with wooden cabins to both sides of the one and only road in town. A flashy sign pointed to a bar and accommodation a third of the way down the main street, so the small party thought collectively that the bar was going to be the best bet of seeking assistance and possibly send a message through to Shining Armour, Captain of the Royal Guard.

Jack was slightly familiar with the small desert town, as he had travelled there a few times on business trips mapping out the area. The town itself did not change, but Jack sensed a change of mood as soon as they stepped hoof in the bar. It was much more solemn than usual, the music playing a steady march anthem instead of the country tango that he was used to in these parts. There were not many residents in the bar at noon, and the ones who did see the small group of ponies entering recoiled and sunk back into their chairs.

“Ah, is it my dear Jackson over there?” came an old raspy voice from beside Jack.

Jack swung around to see a familiar face smiling at him, amber eyes beaming. “I didn’t expect to see you here, ol’ Gunslinger, my friend,” exclaimed Jack with surprise.

“It has been too long! Come, let us have a few drinks and discuss recent happenings,” he invited, “It’s been lonely ‘round here with nopony to talk to.”

“Maybe sometime later,” replied Jack, courteously declining his offer for the time being. He still had to send a message through to Canterlot and seek help to return to the castle. Jack shook his hoof and moved on with the rest of his company to the counter.

“Good afternoon guard, what business do you have in these parts?” asked the bartender behind the counter with suspicion.

“Do you have access to the Arcane Network in this town?” asked Star, as Sunburst trotted up beside Star Streak.

“Yes, but how did you know about the,” he stopped as he saw the battlemage stop beside Star. He coughed and cleared his throat, “Battlemage, you may have access to the network upstairs on the first door to the right.” Sunburst nodded as he turned and started walking towards the stairs.

Jack followed him, with the rest of the group, up the stairs and into the room the bartender described. Inside looked quite plain, except for the giant device in the middle which looked like four tesla coils with a pedestal in the middle. Sunburst found a roll of parchment on one of the tables lining the side of the room. He scratched a message onto the piece of parchment, which Jack assumed was something like ‘help us we are stranded’ or something like that.

Using his magic, Sunburst activated the device with a burst of fiery energy, and placed the parchment on the pedestal in the middle of the room. He then tapped his hoof onto a board, which beeped, then bolts of electricity or magic, Jack couldn’t tell, the same colour as Sunburst’s magical aura struck the parchment, removing it from the room in a blast of energy, and a blinding light.

“Woah! So that’s how you send messages around,” gasped Daring, who never saw anything like it. Sending letters via dragonfire was one thing but this was something completely different.

“Yes, most first time observers find the process quite intriguing,” answered Snowy, who was standing on the other side of the room, “Now all we need is to wait for a reply.”

As soon as those words left her mouth, another flash of light alerted Sunburst to the presence of a roll of parchment with the royal seal on it on the pedestal. Sunburst unravelled the parchment, and read aloud, “Dear Sunburst, I will be dispatching another chariot to your location immediately. Keep safe, Princess Celestia.”

“Keep safe,” Jack snorted with a grin on his muzzle.

“What’s humouring you?” asked Star, “Enlighten me.”

“Celestia should know trouble follows me like a loyal hound follows its owner,” explained Jack with a metaphor which he thought of on the spot. Not bad. Jack turned and motioned for the rest to follow him down the stairs. “I have an old friend I want to introduce you ponies to,” he said simply.

Jack brought the group of ponies to the table at which Gunslinger was sitting. As soon as Star saw him, and processed the information in his brain. He rushed forward. Black mane, ash coat with glowing amber eyes that pierced anyone and anything matched the description in his head. “Major Gunslinger! How could you?” he asked, sorrow penetrating deep into his voice, tears flowing freely, “How could you leave without telling me?”

Jack was amazed at this display by Star. He never thought royal guards were the teary type, but hey, you learn something every day, don’t you? He stared at the two, as did everypony with him, not understanding what just happened before them. Jack came closer, but not enough as to invade their personal space.

“Why did you leave the guard without telling? I knew you were out there. I wouldn’t accept Celestia’s description of why you left, I just couldn’t! We were almost family, how could you just… abandon me without second thought?” Star asked with a slight amount of anger now in his voice. “After being trained by you for a decade, shared a home for a decade, took me under your wing for a decade. How could you just leave me?”

“It’s not as simple as that,” Gunslinger defended feebly against Star’s onslaught of accusations, “I beg you to see from my point of view, my dear Starry.” Instead, Star collapsed in tears into Gunslinger’s open hooves. “There, there, my boy,” he said in a fatherly voice, as he grasped him firmly, “I was hurt as well, but I had no choice.”

Gunslinger placed Star down onto a chair beside him and said, “You folks must be tired standing. Here, come sit,” he motioned at the chairs around the table. Jack took the seat next to Gunslinger and thought it was as good as any time to ask for an explanation.

“So, what’s up between you and Star Streak?” Jack inquired at nopony in particular, eyeing the lieutenant who was smoothing his fur and straightening his armour to make himself look presentable again.

“I was Starry’s mentor, because Celestia chose him herself to be somepony important, and high ranking. She believed she saw his skills and talents for being a strong willed, never faltering leader. I should add that she was quite right,” he remarked, ruffling Star’s mane, “I trained him for more than a decade, teaching him all that I knew, and then I did something even I could not believe. I was commanding the third Equestrian Legion in the Great War, you can probably tell how long ago this was and how old I am now but that’s beside the point, and some part of me knew that sending the whole legion on a route straight into griffin territory was a terrible idea, but we were being flanked by Vaporaeon (name of the people of Vaporeus) troops, but I had to do it. That day, I was with Starry, sitting in the army tent executing the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my life. Three million casualties, and one million fatalities that day. I couldn’t let myself do that much harm to other ponies, who I knew or not. Although the move was what ultimately saved millions of lives, and landed me in the history books, it was also one of my most shameful achievements. I couldn’t handle the consequences anymore after that. I was a broken pony. I always valued the lives of my men, and vowed to myself I would not throw them away, like some other commanders did, like they had no souls. I wanted to leave, without anypony knowing where I went, so I confided this with Celestia, who spun up some elaborate lie about this topic. It pained her to see me go, and fool the nation, but I convinced her that it must be done. I… I’m sorry about it, Starry. You have to forgive me; I wasn’t in the right state of mind,” he begged.

“I couldn’t see what you were going through,” whispered Star, as he was on the verge of tears, “How could I be so naïve? I was with you the whole time! It was my fault for not knowing.”

“How could you blame yourself, my boy?” he asked, surprised, “If there is anypony to bear the blame, it is me for not telling you in advance.”

Jack observed silently, learning about his friend’s life that had never been revealed; his other side. “Wow, Gunslinger. I never knew,” Jack remarked in a hushed whisper.

“Don’t worry Jack. Almost nopony knows about my past, and I think that is of the greater good, that it remains hidden from everyday eyes,” answered Gunslinger, “Well since you all know now, how about some beer, eh? Lighten the mood!”

“No, not now Gunslinger,” replied Star, standing up and walking towards a door, “We’ve got a chariot to catch.”

“It’s been a pleasure meeting all of you anyhow. May the wind be with you,” he farewelled.

“You too, Gunslinger. You too,” replied Jack and Star in unison, as they walked out of the bar into the sandy streets of Dodge Junction.

After half an hour of waiting at the outskirts of town, a flash in the sky alerted Star to the presence of the new chariot which was approaching them rapidly. “Who’s pulling the chariot, I wonder,” Star thought aloud, “They can’t be guards, they are not wearing any armour.”

“I guess we’ll find out in due course,” replied Jack, as he walked towards the soaring chariot, waving them down.

The exquisite mode of transportation landed in a cloud of dust, and made the poor ponies on the ground in the immediate area of effect choke on the fine particles. “Hey, look who’s here!” one of the pegasi shouted in a very familiar female voice, but Jack could not pit a hoof on who exactly it was.

As the dust settled, Jack saw two pegasi dressed in full Wonderbolt attire, one with a flowing white mane and the other, a deep blue mane. “Fleetfoot! Soarin! Fancy you’re here to pick us up. Would think that you guys would be important and skilled enough for Celestia to give you a real mission,” mused Jack, teasing them slightly.

“Well I’d like to think you are one of our greatest assets,” came Daring’s voice from behind Jack, who spun around with a surprised expression on his face.

“Quite,” agreed Soarin as he adjusted the belt, which secured him to the chariot, “Now are you guys going to get on or not? Winter is coming, so hurry up.”

The group of ponies boarded the chariot, with the previous guards also, who now manned the single ballistic minigun at the back of the chassis, although it was doubted that such a weapon would be needed so close to the heart of Equestria. Jack found himself sitting right at the front of the chariot with Daring. It was nice to feel the wind flow through his mane and fur. It also was a nice place to sit to talk to Fleetfoot and Soarin to catch up on some recent happenings in Equestria.

Apparently Wonderbolts Squad Two were sent to the Everfree again to retrieve some information and scout the forest out, and went missing. “Darn it!” Jack cursed under his breath, knowing why. It was something that needed to be added to his mental list titled: ‘what to ask the princess.’

Equestria always looked wonderful from the sky, and Jack, though earth pony and naturally afraid of heights, still appreciated the view from up high across scorching desert, dusty plain, snaking river, pooling lakes, sleeping volcanoes, ancient glaciers, and especially lush farmland. It really reminded him of why each day was worth living in this beautiful land that he is part of.

The flight was pleasant, clocking in at around two hours. Not the longest of flights but still crippling. Jack felt his whole body was stiff after he stood up in the chariot, ready to greet the princess, who was waiting patiently for his arrival on the tarmac. Jack disembarked from the vehicle and came face to face with Celestia, who looked overjoyed to see Jack again. “Come, Jack. We have matters to discuss. I’m glad you made it back in one piece,” she welcomed, “The bearers of the elements and the rest of your friends are waiting for you in the Royal Congressional Hall in South Canterlot. Come on Jack, Daring and company, we must make haste,” she hurried them along.

Jack had never been to the Congressional Hall before. It was a grand building, with a large dome for a roof in the centre of many wings. It was completely white, and ornate like it was crafted in one piece by a master mason. There was a large fountain of water at the front of the hall, which sprayed water into the air in tiny droplets, which created a beautiful band of the rainbow spectrum. Stray drops reflected the sun’s light differently, in a sparkling, glittery golden veil.

The trees planted on either side of the path that led up to the grand dark oaken doors swayed gently in the wind, casting soft shadows onto the path, which was littered with leaves of all the warm fall colours, contrasting with the well-kept grass which covered the ground on the sides of the path, stretching into a large open lawn the size of crop fields.

“Let us hasten,” said Celestia, picking up her stride a little, but noticeable to the eye. Jack and the others matched her speed, and trotted to the fast approaching doors, which were already open to the grand lobby, whose floors were completely covered in a velvety red carpet, whose white stone walls were covered in flowing tapestries of Celestia and Luna’s symbols. The roof was also of white stone, chiselled to form elaborate patterns and pictures, used to depict the greatest moments in Equestrian history. Wide, straight staircases led off to the wings on the sides of the building.

Celestia led the sizeable group straight through the lobby and into a large room on the other side of the lobby which fitted the same style as the rest of the building. The room was already populated by familiar faces, and of chairs and one long thin table spanning the centre of the room. “Welcome to the Congressional President’s Meeting Hall,” announced Celestia, “Make yourselves comfortable, for we have many things to discuss, and this might take a little while. The refreshments are on the tables at the corners of the room. Don’t be afraid to use the restrooms which are on the right side of the lobby, if facing the entrance, while this meeting is adjourned. Same goes for refreshments.”

Celestia took the President of the Room’s seat at the elevated platform towards the right end of the table and projected in the Royal Canterlot Voice, “Let this meeting adjourn!” Everypony in the meeting hall then sat on both sides of the long table in the centre of the room. “As you ponies probably know, we will be covering multiple topics today that you are probably related closely to. These include the current war we are fighting, the disappearance of a reconnaissance team over the Everfree, the uprising of Stalliongrad and the disappearance and location of my sister; Luna.”

“May I raise a point of concern right away?” asked Jack from halfway down the length of the table.

“Sure, Jack,” replied Celestia, “Remember you may contribute anytime, just not when somepony else is talking unless it is very important. Go on, Jack.”

“As some of you may already know, the Drakes have obtained the blueprints of how to make and cast megaspell devices through their raid on Manehattan University. How will we deal with the threat of these powerful weapons in the hooves, or claws, of the wrong beings?” asked Jack, bringing up the most disturbing fact that he had learned through Snowy a few days back.

“Ah, yes…” muttered Celestia almost inaudibly, “I wished to tell you this personally a bit later, but since Jack has already brought this up, I guess we need to address it right now without delay. I know that I may not have told all of you this fact, but I believe you all deserve to know, and how we are going to counter it. Although it might not hold well with some of you, a very effective military strategy is named mutually assured destruction. If we manage to produce enough of these megaspell devices, we can launch them at the enemy if the decide to launch their arsenal at us. No matter what, the would not come out of this as a whole. I hope, when worst comes to worst, we will outsmart the Drakes by surviving in underground bunkers, built with vacuum sealed doors of pure titanium that can only be opened by a special mechanism inside one of these bunkers.”

“Princess,” addressed Twilight Sparkle who was sitting next to Jack on his right side, “Can’t we just use the Elements of Harmony like we did to eliminate all past threats?”

“It would be much less taxing for me if we could, young Twilight,” lamented Celestia, “You see, this threat is in no way magical, or evil.”

Spitfire snorted from the end of the table from this comment, “How could they not be evil? They disturbed our country for no reason, and killed tens of thousands!”

“They must have their own motives for this movement, Spitfire. Thousands of years ago, Equestria was one of the strongest military forces and we took land by force as well,” Celestia tried to explain, “It is not evil, for greed itself is not evil. It is morally wrong, but not evil. What if you were on their side? Would you think of us as evil? Probably. A war is caused by misunderstanding, greed or a motivation to make the world a better place. The Drakes might perceive the world to be a bad place, and they might want to spread their ideologies by taking our land because they think our ideologies are bad, or unideal. We must look from their point of view. I digress, but that was something I must get though the mind of you ponies. The Elements are no use against a force non magical or purely evil. Pure evil manifests though the soul, but nopony can be truly evil, for their soul sees though a filter, their brain, which processes the information and might stop them from acting irrationally. The Elements just cuts though the evil in the soul, leaving the good. In simpler terms, the Elements purge the ponies being evil for the sake of being evil or in other words, doing wrong without moral justification or for ponies who are not in the right state of mind.”

“I would also like to know what happened to my patrol which went missing in action above the Everfree,” said Spitfire, “It’s been eating at me whenever I found out.”

“Well, it doesn’t really take a genius to figure that one out,” commented Celestia, “Dark Flames, who you might remember, most likely took them. We are currently focusing on the war and maintaining relations with Stalliongrad. It is for the best of the country, but I do feel for my sister,” she said with a tear, “I cannot allow for my temptations to overwhelm me. Country comes first.”

“On the second part there, Celestia, I think you failed, to put it bluntly,” Jack said, “As we came out of Stalliongrad, rebel fighters have already taken part of the town and sent their forces after us. It’s not a pretty sight.”

“I’m, afraid it is too true,” Snowy chimed, reinforcing the point.

“I was afraid this would happen so soon,” replied Celestia with a slight frown adorned on her face, something that was rarely seen by anypony. “Well, I must send diplomats and armed forces there as soon as possible I’m afraid. I must cut this meeting short then. I have to see to this matter myself. Before I leave though, I want to have a word with Jackson, and Star Streak. I also wanted to remind you all that the simple fact is that you’ve been born into a bad time, but there is no use lamenting over it. Accept it, don’t give up. Know that the sun is always going to rise in the morning, no matter what. You may go.”

Celestia pulled Jack and Star over when the meeting hall was completely empty. “Jack, I have found your cure. It wasn’t easy, but I made a steep payment to a merchant passing through town for a vial of fire flower stamens. Follow me to the Castle after this. As for you Star,” she turned towards him, “I know that I lied to you about Gunslinger. I received a message from him about meeting you earlier today. I wanted to make sure you know how sorry I am for shielding you from the truth. I thought it was for the best. Please forgive me, Star. Even the divine can make mistakes,” she apologised.

“I can’t believe you straight up lied to me. I thought you, as ruler of Equestria should not tell lies to your subjects. I thought you had enough integrity to tell the truth. Of all ponies, I thought you would be the most truthful. Well, know that I will remember that,” Star said though clenched teeth as he stormed away though the doors.

Celestia let out a long sigh. “Well, Jack. Let us return to the castle.”

Remember, my good people: Greed is not evil. I mean – aren’t we all?

Chapter XXXVIII

CHAPTER XXXVIII

Things are not always what they seem, and everything must be perceived with an open mind.

Jack sat on a comfy, cushioned recliner as Celestia mixed the potion herself with the utmost care and perfection. Her magic danced in the dark room like a waltz of lights, sometimes emerging there, sometimes emerging here. She picked up the vial of golden fluid and placed it above a gentle blue flame, which caused the fluid to bubble, then streaks of crimson flow though the liquid like streamers. All these elements eventually mixed into one, a rose gold fluid with a viscosity similar to warm honey.

Celestia floated the vial up to Jack, who smelled the pleasant rose scents it emitted in tantalising wafts. “I do not really know what this potion will cause, since it has been used only five times in the history of ponykind. We have not fought many wars, which limits the amount of times such treatments of illnesses affecting the blood occurs, since Equestria has been, and is, a very clean country. The bacteria causing blood poisoning has almost been wiped out.”

“Well, this is it,” whispered Jack, staring into the liquid, “It looks divine, princess.”

Daring, who was beside Jack came closer, wing wrapping around him. “Drink. I doubt it will do more good than harm.”

“Well, let’s hope so,” replied Jack as he tilted the vial and let the viscous liquid flow down his throat. He first felt a pleasant warmth down in his belly, and neck. After seconds, the warmth evolved into a painful burning sensation which caused the room to spin, then white. Nothing but white…

Daring watched with a sense of horror, that Jack just fell limp in her grasp. “What happened to him?” she asked loudly, to which Celestia responded:

“I do not know, my little pony. I do not know…”

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

“Argh. Where am I,” Jack said through clenched teeth and gravelly voice as a harsh, bright beam of white light struck his eyes. He quickly closed them again, cursing in his head about how unfair the world was. ‘Fucking hell,” he thought, ‘If this is what it is like to be in heaven, no thanks.” Instead, he heard a very familiar voice call his name.

“Daring, is that you?” he asked softly into the blackness of his closed eyelids.

“You’re awake!” she exclaimed. Jack felt he was tugged into a sitting position, then pulled into a suffocating embrace.

“Stop. Air,” croaked Jack as he opened his eyes slowly again to look Daring in the eyes. Those beautiful magenta eyes.

“I can’t believe it,” she remarked as she stared at him in pure amazement.

“What?” asked Jack, now becoming more and more irritated at nopony giving a straight up answer.

“Well, firstly you survived being in a two-week coma,” Daring started to list, “And secondly, if you haven’t noticed, you are an alicorn.”

“Yeah, whatever Daring. I’m not in the mood for jokes,” grumbled Jack as he slumped onto the bed again and closed his eyes. He felt Daring nudge him with a hoof. “Celestia is here as well, why don’t you ask for her opinion?” This statement caused Jack to sit straight up again, causing his head to spin again.

“Are you alright, Jack?” Celestia asked softly, taking strides to the bed Jack was laying on, “And before you ask me, yes. Yes, you are an alicorn now.”

Jack stared at the princess with a look of disbelief. “No. It is not possible,” Jack whispered to himself.

“Well, you are the proof that it is possible,” Celestia argued, and kneeled down to Jack. “Let me help you to your hooves.” Celestia then proceeded to help Jack out of bed, and into a recliner next to the bed. “Now to answer where you are. You are in one of the guest suites in the castle. Don’t worry, you’ll be cared for thoroughly here, prince,” she said with a smirk.

“You, of all ponies, must know I don’t like formalities. That’s why I usually call you Celestia,” Jack tried to explain to the princess, who still bore that smirk on her face.

“Well, you should get used to it. Under our constitution under section three, statement twenty-six; “All alicorns who are citizens of Equestria must be adopted into the royal family, and bear the title of ‘prince’, or ‘princess.’” she lectured, “Due to the dire times, your coronation will be postponed until our current conflict resolves. If you don’t mind, I also wish to let my prodigy to examine you, and your magical footprint. Somepony just turning into an alicorn like that has never happened before.”

“Ok, Celestia,” said Jack, “If I am an alicorn, can I use magic then?”

“According to all trends in data past and present, all unicorns and alicorns can cast spells. For your information, every race of ponies has their own magic, expressed differently. Pegasi have magic which enables them to fly and very fast, mind you. Their magic allows them to withstand high G forces, heat and cold due to the stresses of flying. The earth ponies also have magic. They have an aura of magic around them that makes plants grow faster and stronger,” Celestia explained, “So, you should be able to channel your magic if that answers your question.”

“Thank you Celestia,” Jack thanked.

“Anything else?”

“No, Celestia.”

“Alright, I’ll leave you two be now. See you at dinner in two hours,” she farewelled as she walked out of the room and closed the large doors behind her.

“Come on! Haven’t you been dying to try out your magic?” begged Daring, “I want to see it.”

“Nope, “declined Jack, “Never have, never will.”

“But… why?” Daring said.

“You might know that I may be stubborn at times. Some wise pony once said, it is normal for everypony to fear the unknown,” Jack explained the best he could, “I don’t know how, and I don’t want to know how much chaos I can cause. Since I know that magic is channelled through the soul, I think it may be dangerous. I have had a pretty… traumatising past. Let’s stop and put it at that.”

“Well, you’ll come to terms to it at your own pace I guess,” Daring sighed.

“If you don’t mind, can you take me for a stroll around the castle?” asked Jack after some time of staring out of the window, “I bet you my life that boredom is the bane of me.”

“Well, what are you waiting for then?” asked Daring as she was already up from beside Jack and hauled him up as well, draping a protective wing over him, as he leaned on her. They walked through the castle aimlessly, enjoying the presence of one another in peace. Jack soon directed Daring to the castle gardens. The gardens always looked beautiful in the red evening light. It was dark enough to see the select few special flowers glow, and also the ones which don’t, of which the deeper hues were brought out by the dimmer light. Daring and Jack sat side by side until they heard hoofsteps muffled by the grass behind them.

“Enjoying yourselves?” asked the regal voice of Celestia, “I always liked the look of the gardens at sundown.”

Jack turned his head to see the white form of Celestia behind him. “Yes, it is quite beautiful at sundown,” he replied, then turned his head back to see the horizon darken slowly.

“Would you like to join me at the dining hall?” asked Celestia, “I know it is a bit early.”

“Of course, Celestia,” Jack answered as Daring helped him up onto his hooves again, and walked beside Celestia.

“Can I ask you a question, Jack?” Celestia asked as they rounded a corner.

“You just did,” Jack remarked with a smirk, as they trotted down the stairs.

“Smartass,” Celestia whispered, but misjudged how audible it was.

“I heard that too,” Jack said with raised eyebrows, “I never knew the princess made those sort of comments.”

“Well, apparently,” Celestia rounded the table as they entered the dining hall, and sat at the chair at the front of the table, “I do.” As she finished her sentence, a group of other ponies streamed into the dining hall, including Twilight and friends, Cadence, and Shining Armour. “Oh yes. I forgot to tell you that I also invited these ponies,” Celestia said as she gave a small smile as Daring flinched and awkwardly folded her wing back from Jack.

“Y-you’re an alicorn?” asked Twilight, who was geeking out at the moment, “Really?” She poked and prodded Jack as she sat down next to her, causing Jack to flinch.

“Wait,” Dash said as she entered the room and looked at Twilight, then Jack. “You really are an alicorn. That is so awesome!” she exclaimed. Then hell happened to Jack. All Twilight’s friends swarmed around him, shooting questions in rapid-fire mode. Jack made a mental note to himself: stay away of the pink one. Especially if she was on caffeine. The thought made him shudder.

Jack gauged the personalities of these ponies as they crowded him. The pink one was hyper. The yellow one was as shy as a tree. The prismatic one had too much of an inflated ego. The orange one, who he had seen before and talked to before, he recognised as Applejack. She didn’t really seem to be too involved; quite passive. The classy one was too into the nobles and finally Twilight. Good old Twilight, as curious as ever.

“Ok guys,” Jack grumbled irritably, “I’m not really in the mood to answer questions right now.”

The six ponies stopped and slowly backed away except Twilight. “I’m sorry about that. We were just so excited to see another alicorn in Equestria,” she said, looking a little downcast.

“I understand that you may be excited, but for the time being, just keep your distance, ok?” Jack asked.

“Alright, Jack,” she answered as she shushed her friends. “Come on girls, Jack needs some space. I’m sure he will be willing to answer your questions at a later date.”

Dinner was a quiet affair, the attempts to start a conversation by Celestia blew out like a torch in a strong gale. “Well, it was nice seeing all of you,” Celestia farewelled as she stood, “I must attend to some things now.”

“Likewise,” Jack agreed as he stood up with Daring and walked out of the dining hall behind Celestia.

After they exited, Celestia stalled Jack. “I need you to meet me at the Wonderbolts Headquarters tomorrow at 3 o’clock sharp in the afternoon. I shall assign some pegasi to you from the guard as your transport.”

Jack nodded, “What for?”

“You’ll see,” Celestia said vaguely as she strode off down the hallway.

Jack returned to his room to find it cleaned and tidied, probably by the servants. He laid himself down and stared at the white ceiling. “What am I? What have I become?” he asked himself quietly.

“My prince,” Daring answered from beside him.

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

Morning came, the bright sunlight penetrated through the curtains bathing the room in a soft yellow light. Jack cracked open an eye and yawned, stretching his wings to their full length. He could hear the birds sing sweetly outside, and the normal bustle of city life. He sat up slowly, the stood, feeling the cold morning air seep through his fur. “New day, new beginnings,” Jack said to himself.

After breakfast at the dining hall with the princesses and Daring, he took a walk around Canterlot with Daring. It was hard walking down the streets when everypony stared at him, like he just won the lottery. Canterlot was a large city, so wandering around in it took a substantial amount of time, as Jack found out that day. He checked the clock tower that stood tall among the rest of the buildings, and saw that it was already two in the afternoon before he had seen everything that the city had to offer.

“Damn, I’m lost. Daring, do you know how to get back to the castle?” Jack asked his companion.

“Follow me,” she answered.

It took almost half an hour to get back to the castle. Although it was the largest building by far in Canterlot, the streets were very cramped and you would do well to see clock tower standing in the middle of the city, which was very tall. Awaiting them was Star Streak pacing at the entrance of the castle, looking slightly irritated.

“Afternoon, cap,” Jack greeted him casually.

He stopped pacing and looked at him. “I have been waiting for you for Celestia knows how long now! We must get a move on, the princess requests that you meet her at the HQ.”

“But it’s only two thirty!” Jack retorted, “I thought we had to be there by three.”

“It takes roughly forty-five minutes to get there, now come on! I’ll be escorting you,” he said hurriedly and dashed off, expecting Jack to follow him, which he did.

They went up a couple of flights of stairs until they reached the outdoor platform Jack landed on a few days earlier that week. A chariot was standing idle there, with two guards standing either side of it, chatting nonchalantly. As Star came into view, they snapped in a rigid stance, saluting their superior officer.

“At ease, soldiers. Just make sure you be swift. We do not have much time on our hooves to play with,” Star addressed his soldiers. “Come on, Jack. We don’t have all day,” he said as he hurried Jack along with Daring onto the chariot.”

As soon as they boarded, the chariot lurched forwards, and took off into the air. “Hey Star, you got let in on this as well?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, Celestia appointed me to keep you safe. I know how much of a trouble magnet you are,” he winked.

Jack watched the fields and paddocks sprawl out like a map under him, the rivers like blue traces and ploughed farmland littering the valley like a checkerboard with many shades of green and yellow. Out in the distance, he could barely make out the white silhouette of the city of Cloudsdale, it’s skyscrapers made purely of clouds sticking out of the main mass like stalagmites on a cave floor.

Very quickly, the mass of clouds expanded to take up quite a large portion of the field of vision in front of the chariot. Soon, the tiny specks of pegasi could be seen flying around the densely populated, floating metropolis. The chariot weaved through the bustling city at quite a fast pace. The skies were chaotic here, with pegasi flying in different directions and whatnot.

They seemed to approach a much calmer part of Cloudsdale when Jack caught his first glance of the Wonderbolts Academy again. It was floating amongst the familiar obstacle course that Jack has grown to know above the city, and quite a bit away. Didn’t want any sonic booms shattering local windows, that’s for sure.

As they drew closer to the academy, they could see the recruits training as always on the bitumen runway, and manoeuvring through the obstacle course. An unexpected sight greeted them, however; Celestia was standing with Spitfire and Soarin already on the tarmac, heads down, discussing something secretively.

Celestia looked up at the sky and located the chariot which carried Jack, and alerted the other two. They stood straight, awaiting the descent of the chariot. Jack felt the familiar rough bump of landing, and leaned forwards as the vessel came to an abrupt stop. He stepped off with Star and Daring, then greeted the princess courteously.

“Good afternoon, princess,” Jack waved as he stepped out, as did Daring and Star.

“Good afternoon,” Celestia said briskly, “We are in a bit of a hurry so just follow me, and we shall lead you to the meeting room.”

Jack followed Celestia caught up with the two Wonderbolts behind Celestia. “So, how has the war effort been?” he asked, trying to start a conversation.

“Not good. Not good at all. We lost many good fighters at Manehattan, and our forces have crumbled on the eastern front. We are currently trying to send reinforcements, but it might take a while. The western front, bordered with the Griffins is protected well by their capital, but they are too slowly crumbling. We have lost half a million souls, and we are not sure if our efforts are in vain.”

“Don’t give up, Captain,” Jack encouraged, “For we have harmony on our side, and the most powerful magicks known to any being. I’m sure we will find a way.”

“No, you don’t understand,” Spitfire began, “The scale of destruction and absolute power of those weapons that the Drakes had acquired is unmatchable by any defensive magic we currently possess. If they cast, we are all doomed.”

“What magic can they possess that can be so powerful?” asked Jack as they arrived into a room with many maps and papers strewn across it in a disorderly fashion. Large tables bore miniature figures representing the fronts of the current war raging on Equestria’s doorstep. A series of dim lights lit the room, and candles were placed strategically around the tables to maximise the amount of light that lit the room dimly and dully.

Spitfire strode over to the far wall, and hit a switch, which to Jack’s surprise lit up a piece of wall in the colours of a photograph. What happened next amazed him. Celestia used her magic to somehow alter the picture so that a map of Equestria was shown on it, with lines and markers displaying the fronts of combat.

“What is that?” Jack stared in amazement at the large screen.

“It is a very new piece of technology produced by our best scientists and mathematicians called the computer. It relies on what they call ‘logic circuits’ to operate when connected to a source of electricity. It can do calculations faster than the most talented unicorn, and allow us to display a map which can be drawn over, then cleared for ease of use,” Celestia explained, like she was unsure how the thing operated as well.

“Well, what am I here for then?” asked Jack.

“Today, we are assembling some of our most elite forces to launch an assault on the Everfree. We will be using fire magic to clear a path to the where a fortress lies, uncovered by my best scouts. Our primary objective is Luna, alright?” Celestia asked in a hushed whisper.

“Why are you not giving this briefing to everypony on the mission?” Jack asked, suspicious of Celestia’s motives.

“Look Jack, Luna is very important to me. I will never abandon her, and I know personal issues should not be put forth above state issues, but she is my sister. If the rest of the personnel knew, word would probably get out, and it would not be good for public image. Please promise me to keep this a secret between us, and ones you trust with your life,” Celestia explained, looking ashamed of herself.

“I’m sure whatever you do, your nation will stand behind you. Luna is one of the co-rulers of this land, and is important to all of us. For your sake, I will not let word get out, but I want you to know this one thing: nopony will blame you for recuing your sister,” Jack replied softly, “Now where do I go to meet up with the rest of the company you were inferring to?”

“Right outside, on the tarmac,” Celestia replied, “I will give a universal briefing, and then you shall assume your roles.”

“Oh shit, I forgot my rifle!” Jack exclaimed before he exited the room, just realising he was missing his prized armament.

“Do not worry, it has been taken into account. I have personally paid for a new firearm to be crafted, specifically for this mission, which will be yours forever,” Celestia reassured, “It is currently in the Academy’s armoury. I will accompany you to it after the brief.”

Jack strode out briskly to the tarmac next to Daring, with Spitfire and Celestia trailing him. There was a much larger company of ponies than he had imagined. Jack estimated two hundred after making a few sweeps of the crowd for familiar faces. Quite a few ponies he knew were involved, including the elite first squadron of Wonderbolts and the iconic mare with the rainbow mane and tale.

As Celestia approached the front ranks of the company, they all bowed politely. Jack followed this act himself, never having to bow to Celestia these days, as they regard to each other as friends. “Stand, my little ponies,” Celestia announced with her voice, projected by magic. “You might know why we assemble here today. There has been a downed squadron of pegasi in the Everfree who have access and knowledge of highly confidential documents. This is a search and retrieve mission, leave no prisoners unless they know something of vital importance. I have marked the position of this enemy base on the maps in the launch room. Head there and wait for your squad leaders and chariots.”

Jack felt a cold shiver down his spine. He had never heard Celestia sound so bitter before, or say ‘leave no survivors.’ Was he dreaming, he wondered, because he knew that Celestia would not normally say something as dark as that. As Celestia promised, she motioned for Jack to follow her. “Are you alright?” Jack asked, feeling slightly concerned.

“I’ll wait for you in the launch room!” Daring called before she went with the continuous flow of the rest of the ponies into the lobby of the Academy.

“I’ll see you there then!” Jack replied back before he focused his attention on Celestia again, waiting for her response. She only sighed and shook her head slightly, and walked on, head lifted high, like she was acting to be fine. Jack returned to focusing on his hoofsteps again, not bringing up the question again.

As they rounded the last corner, into the armoury, Celestia floated out a key with a delicate design, and gilding. She turned the key in the lock of a medium sized box of army green, and it popped open with a satisfying click. Inside laid the most majestic weapon that Jack had ever seen with his mortal eyes.

It was a beautiful gun made almost completely of a nice Jarrah wood, save the breach and barrel. The magazine was of blackened magnesium, build with the highest quality product in mind. The barrel was rifled, with the most perfect grooves that Jack had ever seen. He pulled out the rifle, and pressed the trigger gently, knowing the gun was not loaded. The firing pin cracked down sharply, and the trigger was as smooth as butter. Jack then looked down the scope. It looked like it was a times twenty zoom, and could be adjusted for range. The glass seemed flawless, and the markings looked perfect.

“Is this an automatic rifle?” Jack asked.

“Yes and no,” Celestia replied vaguely, waiting for Jack to inquire why that may be.

“Why?” Jack asked.

“Well, you see, it can use a normal .50cal bullet, or it could use one of these,” Celestia replied, while holding up a metal cylindrical object with curious marking on it. “You can slide it on here, and switch your rifle to ‘magic mode’,” she said as she slotted the cylinder into a connector that Jack had not noticed yet, on the side of the gun, and switched the safety to a third setting. “Try this, but at the range,” Celestia said with a wink.

Jack headed towards the range, and took aim carefully at one of the bullseyes. He pulled the trigger as always, but a jet of green struck the target with a hiss, melting through it. He recoiled with surprise. “What was that?” Jack exclaimed.

“That, my son, is a magical energy weapon,” a familiar voice said from the door. Jack could not really put his hoof on who it was until he looked at him. “Gunslinger?” Jack asked, shocked for the second time today as he stared at the ash coloured pony with positively glowing amber eyes.

“Yes, I designed it myself to emulate the destructive beams that powerful unicorn mage’s can cast,” he said thoughtfully, “It looked like the weapon worked.”

“Yes, and it is quite powerful as well!” Jack exclaimed in awe, “What sort of ammunition does this armament consume?”

“It uses energy cartridges, those small cylindrical metal cases you see on that table there. One of those can hold up to twenty shots, I believe, give or take,” Gunslinger explained, “Use them well, there are a very limited supply of them around. Use normal .50cal shells against the softer targets.”

“Very well, it is nice seeing you again, but I must get moving. The company will leave without me,” Jack said as he hurried towards the door, and quickly farewelled Celestia.

It took a few fast minutes to reach the launch room in the Academy. It was a large round room, similar to the one in the Manehattan base but with a nice coat of deep blue on the walls and many emblems hung, waving slightly in the turbulent air, where pegasi were testing their wings, and unicorns their magic.

“Hey Daring,” Jack shouted as he tried to get his lover’s attention, from the opposite side of the room. He strode briskly to her, and acknowledged Spitfire, Soarin and Rainbow Dash, who were chatting about some things in a small group beside where Daring was resting.

“Hey, so what was all that about?” she asked before she noticed the weapon hanging from Jack’s neck. “That is a peculiar weapon,” She remarked, “What is that metal thing attached to it?”

“I’ll explain later, but first, let us find out what we are supposed to be doing, and where we should be,” Jack replied, scanning the room, looking for chariots and other flying machines and whatnot. Without looking to hard, he could see four large battle carriages in the corner. They were laden with small potholes with large armaments sticking out of them, and what looked like the standard issue green ammunition boxes.

“Let’s head there,” Jack said as he pulled Daring along. Spitfire, and the rest of squad one seemed to be following too.

“Hey Jack!” Spitfire yelled at him as he approached one of the carriages, “take the smallest one, designation number double zero three. It should be marked clearly on the side of the carriages.

True to her word, each carriage had a large set of three numbers painted to their sides. A small carriage, probably only suited to carry around five ponies had the designation double zero three. Jack walked around the entrance into the small vessel located at the back of it. Inspecting the carriage, it still had guns sticking out either sides, but these were of a smaller calibre and different variety. They were laser weapons. This new technology was very expensive and only the most prestigious of commanders walked around with laser pistols and rifles. The fact that this carriage had laser rifles sticking out of it meant that it was for a special team of ponies, and speak of the devil, they came as Jack boarded along with Daring.

“Greetings, Jackson,” said a familiar voice once again. Jack managed to recognise this voice immediately this time, having heard it once again today. The ash grey pony boarded and sat opposite Jack. Following Gunslinger, Star Streak boarded along with Twilight?

“Twilight Sparkle, what are you doing here?” Jack inquired.

“I have been practising my offensive spells recently and they’ve been coming along quite fine,” said she, “Dash is going along, as well as you, so I thought I should probably provide some support too.”

“Very well,” Jack acknowledged, “Just try not to get yourself slaughtered.”

“Will do,” Twilight replied, “Don’t worry about me.”

A rumble was felt resonating from below the carriage, then a smooth humming nose started. “Ready?” asked Spitfire, who peeked her head into the carriage from the front window.

“Anytime, cap,” Jack replied with nods from the rest of the company. A light tug threw Jack slightly back into his seat as the launch bay became more and more distant. Outside the window, he could see half of squadron one flying level with the chariot, which was presumably being pulled by Spitfire. They were going slow enough for the rush of the wind not to drown out conversation.

“Hey Soarin!” Jack called from the small window above the weapon mount.

“Hey Jack,” said he, “So, what do you expect this time?”

“Probably more guns. Lots more,” Jack speculated thoughtfully, “Last time they did have some advanced tech. I doubt that they will have the resources necessary to crush a whole unit of special attack forces.

“You would be surprised. We have gained quite valuable intel about Dark Flames. He seemed to have quite a spectacular defines the last time we scouted the area.” As he said that, the flight of forces started seeing a great black fortress protruding from the earth in the middle of the trees of the Everfree. It looked like there were many fortifications and with no doubt there were adequate defence systems.

“Get the damned flight down!” Soarin shouted at Spitfire, who just realised the same thing.

“Follow me!” she called as the whole flight dived for the trees just as yellow tracers tore through the air, luckily not managing to make any direct contact with the ponies diving into the thick green canopies of the evergreen forest.

Jack’s carriage landed with a rough bump on the ground. “Any unicorns, take the heavy weapons from the carriages and use them in combat, we will need all the firepower we can get!” Spitfire shouted over the raucous chatter of the company. They complied, Twilight managing to haul a Magic Gatling Laser without passing a sweat.

The company started silently advancing across the forest towards the large blackened fort. Not even ten minutes of walking brought them to a small clearing, with a thin layer of foliage and canopy hiding them away from the prying eyes of guards on the fortifications, keeping a watchful eye out for anypony who dares trespass.

“Where’s our explosives squad?” Spitfire asked softly, not wanting to risk the chance of being heard over the wind.

“Here we are,” replied a peach coloured earth pony in the same tone, “The mortars are being set up currently.”

“Good, fire at will”

“Aye aye, cap.”

The mortars were large things, each probably weighing over one hundred kilograms, with wide barrels which presumably fired a large payload of explosives. The explosives squad took ample time to set up the devices, then loaded in hefty shells of a very high calibre. “Firing!” called the commanding officer, and the levers were pulled, igniting the gunpowder. The shells left the barrels with a deep rumble and ear splitting explosion, blasting them, high into the air. The shells whistled as they came back down from their high arc, right on top of the fortifications closest to the company, erupting with an earth-shaking boom, and a blinding flash. Debris flew everywhere, the dust suspended in the air which blocked out the sunlight.

When the dust cleared, a large hole was found in the building, but it would take at least three more barrages to knock a portion of the wall to the ground. More salvos of shells were fired, as the soldiers readied their weapons, and polished their armour, ready to charge into the fort. On the fifth strike, the whole section crumbled, revealing the ground on the other side, a dull shade of black, scorched by the heat of the explosions that were happening right above it.

“Come on! Get in the fort, then find cover!” Spitfire commanded, as the company dashed into the dust and debris. Yellow tracers tore through the air once again, now ripping down the assaulters of the fort into a bloody mess of blood and bone. Unicorns tried to provide a shield, but they proved little of value when the overwhelming majority of the company were pegasi or earth ponies.

Twilight cast a large shield to protect her friends, including Jack and Dash, levitating her weapon in front of it with its terrifying barrel spinning but not shooting, due to the lack of targets to lock on to. The dust was thick as they made their way to the inner wall of the fort, finally finding small guard towers that were completely void of inhabitants, with small stockpiles of aid and ammunition.

Most of the company got behind them, and started setting up more defences and creating a small forward operating base. A few soldiers were left behind in the clearing in the Everfree to relay any message being sent out to the recipient. The first contact was made with an enemy when Jack stepped onto the top of the guard platform, and saw a group of patrols on the wall. They were completely unsuspecting of the direction of fire that Jack was shooting from, efficiently popping round after round into them, one by one dropping dead, red blood flowing freely onto the cold black stone.

Before they had any chance to retaliate, all of them were laying on the ground, life seeping away from them every single second, if not already lifeless. There were many casualties on Jack’s side, the dead and wounded being laid onto the temporary stretchers and hauled into medical tents where they were either being treated or being cremated, a traditional thing to do to a fallen soldier’s body.

Jack spotted Spitfire leaning against one of the guard towers, treating some cuts and grazes. “How you holding up?” he asked her.

“Yeah, I’m doing fine. Don’t worry about me,” she replied, “We must get an assault party in the castle by tomorrow. Now we all rest and heal.”

As Spitfire said those words, a piercing crack tore through the air, the tracer moving very quickly towards Jack from the top of the tall fort’s wall. Jack leaped to dodge it but it hit somepony behind him. With a thump on the ground, Daring, who was behind Jack fell onto the bare earth, with her own crimson blood staining the length of her body. The bullet shot straight through her hindquarters and she was losing blood quickly.

“Help!” Jack choked as he carried the slumped body to one of the medical tents set up. At the sight of Daring, the field doctors carried her into a tent, and ushered Jack outside while they worked their magic. It was going to be a long night for Jack, who walked back to one of the small guard towers, and sat against it, slipping his gun from his shoulder and leaning it on one of the boards that made up the tower.

The camp was in a buzz after what happened, worried whispers sounded all around as ponies were afraid that they would be targeted next by whoever shot that bullet. Only a few ponies looked calm, and one of them was Spitfire, who was still leaning on that same guard tower, looking indifferent.

“Spitfire?” Jack asked as he approached her, “What are your plans?”

“Well, I think I should send a patrol to clear the walls and an assault team to try destroy the insides of the fortification, if this really is as big of a threat as Celestia says it would be, I would want to make sure that it wouldn’t be able to function after this raid.”

“Good plan, I look forward to destroying these bastards tomorrow,” Jack said through clenched teeth.

“Look Jack, don’t fret over Daring. I’m sure she will be fine and herself again in a few days. This is not a mission for revenge anymore,” Spitfire comforted.

“You don’t know.” Jack stated plainly.

“What don’t I know?”

Jack thought about telling the captain about Celestia’s words that she confided with Jack, and through his vision, blurred by anger, he told her, “That this whole mission is to get revenge on Dark Flames for probably torturing our princess of the night, and holding her hostage for us to just stumble into his elaborate little death trap and kill us all.”

“I was suspicious of that,” Spitfire remarked thoughtfully, “I knew that she was trying to hide something but I couldn’t put my hoof on what. This mission now feels complete. Every Wonderbolt recon team knows what they are in for. Death is likely in one of these close impact missions so this was why I felt a little skeptical about Celestia trying to send us into here.

As she said that, a bullet whizzed past Jack’s body and struck one of Spitfire’s wings, blood running freely as the bullet wounded her deeply. She was not aware of what had struck her until she saw the red, bloodied wound in her side, then collapsed. “Get under cover!” Jack commanded the rest of the company, call in for artillery support!”

Everypony got in cover, whether it was a guard tower, or a tall pile of sandbags. The radio operator quickly dialed in the coordinates for the strike and soon enough, the whiz and explosion of the artillery shells were heard bombarding the inner wall, clearing any defender and wrecking previously build fortifications. As the dust cleared, a giant hole in the wall appeared, allowing Jack to see inside the castle walls.

“Oh shit…”

Chapter I

CHAPTER I

It was a warm, sunny day when the tan coloured pegasus set out of her cool abode, shadowed with sweeping willows, with a tightly rolled yellowed piece of parchment. She darted through the bustling rush hour Canterlot traffic and jumping from cover of one tall building to another, like she does not want to be seen. She made her way swiftly to a grand, white marble train station where a bright steam engine was waiting.

She held up her ticket before she reached the large, delicately crafted wrought iron gates. A guardspony let her slip through the gate as she presented him with the ticket. He let out a grunt of approval as she stepped into the third carriage of the train and found herself an empty compartment. The compartment was cramped and claustrophobic but still shining with many bright yellows and reds.

‘This is the day,’ she thought aloud to herself as she unpacked her possessions and took off her pith helmet onto the train’s comfortable, plush carpet. She sighed. How mundane it was to sit in a train cabin doing nothing. She stopped after done laying out her few possessions and took stock of the situation. ‘I hope Kasha and his lackeys don’t find me,’ she thought to herself.

Stroking herself on the chin, she took out a pen and a bleak looking notepad. It was nothing that would catch anyone’s eye, well that was the point anyways. She started scribbling ideas and recounts of her day onto the notepad, as the train lurched from the station and rocked soothingly after it steadied its pace.

The train flew steadily in a south-eastern direction, chasing the blood red setting sun. as it set on the hilly horizon. The trip she knew would take time, three days at least as she closed her notebook and started dozing off. She didn’t bother about going to dinner that night. ‘I can’t believe I’m going to Oreientallis at last!’

The sun sank slowly but surely. The jagged horizon was full of peaks and hills, causing the backdrop to the green fields to seem ominous and black, drenched in the shadow where the setting sun couldn’t cast its light. Long shadows were cast by the occasional tree planted on the fields, though most of which was used for crops, especially gran that shone golden in the sunlight.

The night soon came, stars appearing in the night sky, dotting the black emptiness of space. The silvery moon rose and cast its light onto the objects that were in her light’s way. It lit the sky nonetheless and provided a sufficient amount of light for the eye to see barely, but not fully, using its rods instead of cones to observe the incoming light.

She spent the night tossing and turning as nightmares weren’t a common visitor. She experienced herself blown to pieces again and again in her dreams, in some unknown temple full of ancient traps. It was 5am, at least what she could tell from the digital clock on her small, equestrian oak bed stand. She thought about going back to sleep but her sheets were drenched in her cold sweat.

Chapter II

CHAPTER II

A grizzled stallion wearing a brown trench coat with a brown body and mane trekked through the tough, barren Eastland as the sun was setting. After a few more minutes of a mixture of cantering and walking, he finally started camp. The brown stallion sat down on the rocky surface and looked through his saddlebags. Scruffily packed in it was all the essentials like water and food but also contained a flint and steel and some hay to start a fire and a few other personal items.

It was lucky that he stopped next to a dead tree, because a fire requires dry wood. He started building a fire by stacking small branches of the wood on end, and took out a generous amount of golden hay. A fire quickly started after he stuck the flint and steel and he settled against the tree. A sudden blur of movement made the grizzled stallion take out his Colt .45 DA revolver from its holster. The Colt firearm was crafted with extreme care, an ivory handle engraved with delicate foreign inscriptions.

“Who’s there?” shouted the grizzled stallion.

“Why, don’t you remember me, young Jackson?” said a sneering voice from behind him. Thinking quickly, Jack swept around in a wide arc. Soon, the intruder found himself at gunpoint.

“It’s you again! To hell with you! Go tell Kasha in spirit that he will never capture me, no matter how hard he tries!” Jack spat at the zebra. He cocked the revolver, fanning the hammer with loud clicks of hammer striking primer. Jack let three shots loose, all being released with a sharp crack and a flurry of smoke that surrounded a blast of yellow gas, presumably made by the burning gunpowder. One round embedded itself right in the zebra’s neck and the other two was fired at a small dead bush that lay around five-hundred yards away. An ear splitting screech through the air, confirming his suspicions that somepony was hiding in the bush, just as Jack predicted. Some of Kasha’s ruses were too easy to identify.

For the meantime, he was safe. ‘Better get some sleep,’ he told himself as he settled next to the crackling warm fire, shivering a little. The ‘desert’ was certainly cold at night. He noticed something odd on the horizon soon after settling down and letting his eyes wander over the flat lands. It was puffing what looked like smoke and with that, he drifted off to sleep.

Jack woke up abruptly in the morning, Celestia’s sun shining brightly. Even a fool would know how hot it gets at midday so he packed and started trotting in a south-easterly direction. With the sun behind his back, he could see the horizon much more clearly. Scanning the horizon, Jack kept moving at a steady pace and was greeted by the sight of a run-down village after two hours of continuous trotting. ‘It doesn’t look like much but it could be swarming with bandits,’ thought Jack cautiously. Who could blame him? It was bandit country; many stories of robbers stealing large sums of money came from this part of the desert decades ago. He trotted over into the shabby village and saw that it was a completely abandoned husk. Some of the building looked quite luxurious, made of a dark spruce wood and was probably finely furnished years ago. Why was this town deserted? One answer: bandits.

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

The train finally crossed the border, into a dense jungle which was dripping wet with water that never evaporated dur to the thick canopy of dark green leaves. ‘Not good,’ thought Daring, “I don’t want to go in there the more I think about it.’ The train pulled into the station suddenly, which was placed right on the edge of the dense jungle. She was lost in thought, head supported by her fore-hooves. Daring quickly packed her few possessions into her tan coloured saddlebags and stepped onto the train station and greeted with a blast of cool, but humid air.

The city loomed over her as she trotted closer. The highest buildings were hundreds of stories tall! The city was also swarmed in zebras. The black and white patterns on the crammed streets puzzled Daring, wondering how to get around without drowning in the sea of white and black.

Daring considered herself very lucky as she trotted into a motel on the outskirts on the grand city. The motel looked modest enough for her.

“Good day ma’am, how can be of service to you?” asked the zebra sitting at the reception desk.

“One room for ten nights please,” said Daring as she took out her sack of bits.

“That will be twenty bits ma’am,” replied the zebra.

Daring passed the requested sum of money onto the desk in exchange of a small copper key with a tag directing her to room 7. She opened the door into her room. The motel wasn’t the most stunning of places but it was good enough. Daring sighed as she unpacked and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

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

Jack was still on the move across the barren Eastland. The furious sun cast its relentless rays upon him as he struggled to ration the last of his water. He needed something to think about to distract himself from the feeling of a parched tongue. ‘I wonder how close I am to the border,’ he asked himself. The symptoms dehydration started to kick in as he took another swig from his leather water skin. He shook it. ‘This will only last a few more hours if this keeps going on,’ he thought remorsefully. Jack was a smart pony, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to work out a few hours’ worth of water can’t sustain the many days of trekking until he reached the city of Oteron. He pushed on, feeling the dry heat of the sun evaporate what sweat he had to shed.

It was finally dusk. The warm air of the plains seemed to be replaced by a cooler southwards gust. The wind on his fur felt refreshing, after a long exhausting day, but trek on he must. It was his last and only choice, hoping he will pass out close enough to the border that an Equestrian patrol might be kind enough to pick him up and send him home.

‘Home…’ Jack thought, ‘What a wonderful place to be right now than here in this darn desert trying to find a temple that has been lost for centuries.’ Jack took his last swig of water and stuffed the empty water skin into his saddlebags. ‘What a depressing way to die, out here, all alone?’ The screeches of desert birds started as they always did in the night. He lay there, motionless. “This is our last, my world, we barely knew ye…”

Chapter XII

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…

Chapter XXIX

CHAPTER XXIX

“Hey Soarin, have you seen Iron Skies lately?” Jack asked, feeling concerned for him.

“No, he wasn’t at dinner and I can’t spot him around in here. Spitfire is missing as well… wait… no…” Soarin choked, “It can’t be! Or can it?”

“What?” asked Jack in confusion.

“I ordered Iron Skies to persuade Spitfire to get a rest. It is crucial for her to be functional at this point in time. Is he successful? Or being detained by Spitfire in her office,” thought Soarin aloud, the latter part swarming with sarcasm.

Jack snorted. “Well, at least we don’t need to anypony to report to us tonight, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, want to play pool?” Soarin asked.

Jack nodded as they neared the already set up pool table. Soarin was an unstoppable force of nature when it comes to pool. Jack’s plan is to break and hope to Celestia to sink a ball and sink a ball every turn after that. The moment Soarin got to get a shot, all was over. Jack rounded the mahogany table, the inside coated with a green felt, with his cue.

He aligned his cue with the white ball carefully, brows furrowed. He drew back the cue slowly, making sure the shot was still aligned, so far in fact that he stabbed somepony standing behind him with the end of the long cue. Jack turned around, ready to apologise to whoever he stabbed. Jack turned around, finding himself looking into the grey eyes of a very familiar pony.

“Hello,” he commented simply.

“Hey, Silver!” called Soarin from the opposite side of the table.

“Sorry,” mumbled Jack, whispering the last part, “He deserved it anyways.”

“I probably did…” he said with a smirk.

Jack had a look of utter horror on his face as he turned to face Silver. “Y-you heard that?” he stammered.

“Son, I hear everything,” he said unmoved, “so you better shut that trap of yours.”

Soarin was stifling his laughter from the other side of the pool table, resting his cue on the wooden frame. Jack turned back to the table, aligning his shot again carefully. This time, there was nopony to interfere and he got a clean shot off. The white ball made a satisfying clack as the cue hit it, sending it flying down the almost frictionless green felt, and slammed into the ball at the tip of the triangle formation of all the coloured, numbered balls. The balls exploded into action, splitting outwards quickly. Many balls bounced around chaotically.

“Yes!” shouted Jack triumphantly as one of the striped balls, number 14, sunk into the top right hole. Jack repositioned himself to take another shot.

“Nice shot,” commented Soarin.

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

Iron Skies waited in silence, in the dark bedroom of the sleeping mare in her bed; Spitfire. He had waited for hours, to make sure she was asleep before attempting to step out of her room. It was probably going to be a relatively easy feat, compared to the other things he had achieved and confronted in his life. Spitfire was snoring from her bed, the sound echoing slightly in the dark room. Iron slowly rose to his hooves from the couch and sneaked to the iron door to his left.

Spitfire’s breathing hitched as he stepped closer to the door. Iron froze right in front of the door, scared that she was going to wake up. Iron really did not want to face the consequences of not obeying orders, but Spitfire did not order him to stay with her. Well, Spitfire’s word is law around here so it may as well be an order. Her snoring returned to a regular, constant pace. Iron slowly turned the handle on the door, eliciting several squeaks from the poorly oiled hinges. The handle finally turned fully. Iron slowly tugged at the door, praying that the sound won’t wake Spitfire up. Well, in a perfect world, that would’ve happened; but life is unfair.

Spitfire’s snoring completely stopped. Iron felt a chill run though him. A bright yellow light shone from the bedside lamp. “Where are you going, Iron Skies?”

Iron looked around, seeing that she was still groggy in her bed. “Why do you ask me to do this?” he asked.

“Reasons…” she replied cryptically.

“Alright, goodbye then,” said Iron in a hurry as he pulled the door completely open and jumped out, then slammed the door as hard as he could back into a closed state. He spread his wings and tore down the hall with alarming speed.

Iron wracked his brain for a good place to go to; a good place to hide. Down the long halls he flew with no pursuit. The game room came to his mind and he immediately headed down the hall for it. It was an uneventful journey to the game room, not meeting anypony or seeing anything out of the norm.

Iron opened the doors to the game room to see Fleetfoot wailing at the ice hockey table because she lost to Fire Streak, and… was that Jack dominating Soarin at pool? The latter was something out of the norm.

“Hello guys,” he said casually as he walked up to the pool table, “I see that you are getting smashed by young Jackson over here.”

“I haven’t even got a turn yet,” replied Soarin with a pout.

“Yep… he’s totally wrecking you right now,” said Iron.

“I’ll take next game with Jack,” said Silver from the shadows, “and where the hell have you been Iron Skies?”

“I think that question will be explained very soon by a very angry mare walking through the doors,” said Iron with a chuckle.

“Ok… we’ll see,” said Silver with a smile.

A few minutes later, Spitfire came walking through the game room. Iron was currently having a ‘friendly’ table tennis match at the back of the game room which involved literally smashing the ball with as hard as you can with the paddles and aim for the face. Jack and Soarin was also there, but also joined with Daring now, as she entered a few minutes earlier. Jack was chatting with Soarin over a bottle of beer with Daring curled up next to Jack.

Spitfire walked over to Iron Skies watching him sweat in anticipation of what her next move was. Iron tried to fake that he didn’t notice Spitfire watching him. Silver seemed to notice and dropped this paddle and held the ball. “Hey Spitfire,” he said.

Iron glared at Silver, eyes twitching. He smiled back at Iron and mouthed; You’re doomed. Iron turned to face Spitfire who still had her bed mane, hair sticking out at all crazy angles. “Uhh… hello Spitfire,” asked Iron hesitantly.

“Hello Iron Skies,” she stated simply.

“What do you want?” asked Iron as steadily as he could, obviously troubled by her presence.

“Nothing,” she muttered and walked away.

Iron sighed as she walked away, muscles relaxing as he turned back to his game of table tennis.

“Well, you got away this time,” chuckled Silver, “Say… what was that about anyways?”

“It’s a long story,” answered Iron, “Are you sure you want to know?”

“Maybe not, but go on,” urged Silver Lining.

“Well… Soarin,” Iron glared at Soarin, “told me to tell Spitfire to get some rest. As you know, commanders can’t function when they have caffeine pumped around their system twenty-four-seven. I did what I was told, but she held me hostage in her room basically.”

“Hey! It’s not my fault! A mixed variety of reactions could’ve become a reality,” Soarin churned into the conversation, “Well, I couldn’t do it to her anyways.”

“Well, maybe you should’ve shoved her a bit and…” Iron was cut off.

“Wait… You physically shoved her into her room? Never heard anything more impressive. Well, maybe making Fleetfoot not make a pun for an entire hour is an exception…” interjected Soarin.

Suddenly, a voice over the PA system sounded. “All Wonderbolt and Griffin personnel, head immediately to your respective squad areas and ready up. We are going to head out to counterattack at exactly 1700 Great Eastern Time.”

“So, maybe it was because of this Spitfire did not annihilate you…” pondered Silver. ‘It was probably because of this Spitfire did rage at Iron. Nothing but her duty would’ve stopped her,’ thought Silver Lining, this time not letting his thoughts slip into a verbal form.

“Well, I better get going,” said Iron, “I’ve got the whole squad two to command.”

“You do that; I’ve got the whole of three to command,” said Silver as he turned towards the door.

Iron Skies turned towards the door also and walked slowly through the halls to large entrance to the open skies that was currently shielded by a massive dome of the strongest alloys known to Equestria. The disc that was stationed under the dome was called the launch platform. Many doors dotted the sides of the large circular room, where specific squads of Wonderbolts could prepare for combat.

Iron trotted briskly into a room which bore a door labelled ‘Squadron II.’ The pegasi in his squad had not arrived yet, battling through the dense traffic in the narrow hallways. Iron walked over to the corner of the room, and looked through his personal drawer that was built into the metal wall.

He took out a small black case gingerly and set it on one of the benches that ran across opposite sides of the room. Iron detached the small locks on either end of the black case with small pops and opened the case to reveal red velvet lining two wing sized objects, bound in brown leather that smelt of newness, an artificial smell that was injected unintendedly to all leathers during the tanning process. Iron slipped off the leather covers carefully, revealing sharp steel blades that twinkled in the unnatural light. He held the blade meant to be fit to his left wing up and inspected it thoroughly. Four straps dangled under the lightweight cotton padding on the side of the blade that was meant to be attached to the wing.

Iron used his spare forehoof and mouth to tie the wing blade to his left wing, struggling a little but eventually getting it. Iron then covered the blade with the leather covers which now acted like sheaths, which could be slipped off easily at any time. Iron did the same to his other wing, fidgeting a little more as he was using his left hoof to tie the knot; he was not ambidextrous.

Iron finally managed to get everything done to an acceptable level and walked back out to the launch platform. He saw his squad members slowly walking towards him, while chatting in hushed voices.

“Good evening Iron,” greeted the tall white pegasus mare who was adorned with blue streaks in her white mane and tail.

“Good evening Artemis,” Iron replied.

“Good evening sir!” declared the other three pegasi in rough synchronisation.

“Could work on some sync training,” chuckled Iron. “Well get ready, were launching in… oh goddess we are late; we are launching in three minutes. Get your flight suits on!” he commanded.

The squad professionally slipped their flight suits on and equipped themselves with a variety of weapons of their choosing, from sniper rifles to small bombs.

“Are you sure you can carry such a high calibre sniper rifle and stay stable in the air, Fire Streak?” asked Iron.

“Yeah, I can,” replied Fire Streak.

“You know that we are supposed to be fighting in close range?” questioned Iron.

Fire Streak shrugged, “A rifle is a rifle, the more powerful the better and can refit the scope with iron sights if you want.”

“Your choice, just make sure you are effective in the field,” said Iron, still not convinced.

Fire Streak made his way to the weapon rack and picked out an iron sight that suited the rifle, then fumbled with it and somehow attached it. It was probably a tedious process, judging by how much Fire Streak fumbled but he did make haste.

“All right guys, we are set to launch?” asked Iron.

“Aye, captain,” they said.

“Let’s get to the launch platform my fellow Wonderbolts,” commanded Iron, “We are going to fly in… delta formation? I think that is best.”

The squadron of five walked out of their little prep space and into the launch platform, where many other Wonderbolts and griffins were already stationed, ready to launch in various formations ranging from deltas to crosses. Iron led his squad to the front of the launch platform, indicated by a small elevated platform that a microphone was placed on a black stand. They settled into formation between squads one and three, with one on their left and three on their right.

“Hello cap. What’s the plan?” asked Iron as he walked across to the first squad.

“Well, we are just flying in formation to reach our frontline post, where we can monitor the situation from there. It is likely that we will be fighting and Spitfire will explain the plan when we are there. Expect some heavy flak,” replied Soarin completely seriously.

“That type of flak?” asked Iron.

“Yes, now you better tend to your squad,” answered Soarin as he turned back to his squad.

Spitfire suddenly burst into the chamber, flying for the platform at the front and pulled a large lever that Iron did not notice when he entered the launch platform. A rumble shook the platform as the large dome on the roof split in two, revealing the dusk sky. “Alright Wonderbolts, head out!” she commanded, “And griffins, stay put. Commander Thunderclaws will arrive promptly,” she added.

The air was filled with the sound of flapping wings as each squad lifted off in unison, dotting the sky densely. Each squad flew in a perfect formation, staying far from other squadrons as a collision was highly plausible if evasive manoeuvres were necessary. They saw the grassy knolls and rolling hills splay before them as they flew higher and higher, up the golden coastline to the city Manehattan, whose tallest buildings were visible, creating a beautiful skyline.

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

Jack ran to his room, quickly picking up his rifle and strapping it to his body. He also checked that his trusty revolver was in its holster in his trench coat where it always was. It comforted him to have a relic he that had travelled beside him from when he graduated from university.