The Poncho Chronicles I: The Beans

by BRyeMC

The Knoll

The rest of the company traveled the road until fatigue bested them. The sky was shrouded black by this time, but no one could tell the actual time. The search group was gone for, what they believed, for what seemed over four or five hours. After failing to find a town or someone to help them in their plight, they decided to stop for rest and make a basecamp. They found a reasonable spot, nearly half a mile from the road, that was also surrounded by the base of hills, perfect to hide from possible pursuers.

“I’ll go find some firewood,” said Clyde. He faced towards the small patch of trees near the base of the hills.

“For a fire?” questioned Wahlburn, “how are we going to light a fire?” Most of them just looked at him for his ignorance.

“I’m a fucking dragon, you idiot,” said Spike, “unlike the others, that spell didn’t affect me because I’m not part of their “Harmony” group. Sometimes I wonder why I am hanging with you.” The two started to bicker back and forth and soon, their verbal battle became so pointless and irrelevant that Cannon fell asleep on the ground.

Clyde continued listening to the argument for another minute and then continued on his way in his search for firewood to heat up from the terrible cold of the air. He made his way to the small clearing of trees and scavenged around. He found a multitude of twigs and branches that fell off the trees. He looked up at the sky and saw that the moon had already risen to the top of the sky. He quickly gathered as much as he could, and made his way back. On his return he noticed that Wahlburn and Spike had set their differences aside and were particularly happier than they were moments before. “What is wrong with them?” he asked Patel suspiciously.

“When you left, they kept arguing for another five minutes or so, then they pulled out that bag of weed they bought in that run-down town. They just finished and now are being affected by it.”

“Did you have some?”

“No, they wouldn’t let me,” said Patel a little disappointed, “it doesn’t matter though, as I’m about to fall asleep. This damn cold weather is pissing me off and making me tired. Seriously, it’s fucking early August...” He grabbed a blanket they took from the bus and covered up to protect himself from the snipping cold. After a few minutes, he was passed out on the ground sleeping beside Cannon. Clyde zipped up his jacket and sat there along side Wahlburn and Spike who were laughing and making jokes at each other. The effects of the weed were making them immune to the harshness of the cold.

Wait, thought Clyde. He looked around the camp and realized the absence of the final member of their group. Where did she go? He got up and searched the surrounding area. After looking in the camp, he looked up at the hills and squinted his eyes. He saw a dark silhouette against the lighter shade of the hill, that showed a slight contrast, making it noticeable, even in the dark of the night. He looked back at Wahlburn and Spike, who were both passed out now due to the weed, and made his trek up the hill.

The ascend up the hill was not at all difficult. The size appeared much larger at a distance than up close to what it actually was. When Clyde was almost at the pinnacle, he saw Rarity look at him with confusion and then continued to look past him, down onto the camp below. When he finally made it to the top of the hill, he sat beside her.

“What are you doing up here?” she asked him, still looking at the camp, as to avoid his presence.

Clyde ignored the question for a moment and looked up into the sky. The dark sky was illuminated with the bright stars and moon of the night now. He remembered how, when he was little, he would always go outside during the warm nights as a child and look into the sky whenever he had a problem and watch the stars clear his thoughts and troubles as it helped him with his loneliness. Because of this, he learned names of constellations and certain stars that he could pick out during any night. He looked to see if he could spot some of these constellations and then replied back, “I could ask you the same thing.”

“I asked you first,” taunted Rarity.

Clyde chuckled at the remark and finally answered, “Well, you were missing and I decided to come and find you. Obviously being alone didn’t work for Quantico.” He saw the distant fire in the camp finally diminish in the wind. “I answered your question. Now answer mine: why and when did you sneak up here?”

Rarity remained silent for a few seconds and responded, “I came up here nearly as soon as you left for firewood.” Her sight was still on the camp below them.

“Yeah, okay, but why?”

Rarity finally stopped avoiding him and looked at him, “In case you didn’t know, I am the only girl here.”

“Okay.”

“Well, I’m not going to hang around a bunch of random guys I don’t even know!” Her face was furious. "Especially if some do drugs! You know what could happen to a lady like me with a bunch of random immature guys!”

“Well, you do know Spike,” stated Clyde.

“That’s not the point! He would probably help you guys as he thinks I hate him for rejecting him countless times, even though I did it nicely.”

“Ah, so you’re hiding because you don’t trust us.” Clyde looked at the sky again and noticed the two bright stars, Altair and Vega, beaming above them. He felt a sudden urge of confidence in him, which never happened to him before. “You can trust me.”

Rarity looked at him blankly. “How?”

“Well, I did come to search for you.”

“Yeah, but I wasn’t asking for help,” she said as she looked down at the ground. “Besides, who else would even bother?”

“I don’t know, Patel?” Clyde gave a good-hearted chuckle.

Rarity gave a cold glare at his response. “That’s not funny.”

“Sorry,” apologized Clyde, “are you still mad at him?” She continued with her glare until Clyde looked away, “Alright, that answers that...” Suddenly a cold burst of wind attacked them and quickly subsided within moments. The temperature seemed to be colder, and it felt more deadly, than nights before.

“This darn weather!” complained Rarity shivering and hugging herself for warmth. “Why is it so cold? It’s early August and it keeps getting colder and colder every night! It should still be warm weather! This trip has been nothing but trouble. I knew I shouldn’t have went in the first place. Ponyville is a hundred times more elegant than this!” She quickly looked away to hide a frozen tear so Clyde wouldn't see it. Clyde looked over at her and then back to the sky. Altair and Vega was still shining brightly amongst the blackened sky. After more deep thought, he unzipped his jacket and took it off. He placed it on her shoulders. Rarity looked at him with a surprised look.

“Clyde! I-” she began but was interrupted by his voice.

“No, put it on.” He looked back at the sky. “I can handle this cold. Besides, my jacket looks better on you anyways than it does on me.” That comment made her smile. It was the first time Clyde had seen her smile since first meeting her, and he was glad that he was able to make her happy after all that had happened to her and to the group since the past few days.

“Thank you...,” said Rarity softly.

“Don’t mention it,” replied Clyde. He felt a cool breeze on his back but ignored it. “You know, you are the only other one to ever wear that jacket. Consider yourself lucky.”

“Well, my name is Rarity...,” she said as she smiled at him. They both laughed and began talking about an assortment of topics. He learned that she was a dressmaker and ran her own business back in Ponyville while she learned that he was a fan of music and playing basketball with his friends, especially with Tyrone. Of course, during the time they spent together on the hill, sometimes while Clyde talked, he stuttered or caused an awkward pause that Rarity giggled to. The conversations continued until dawn quickly approached, a few hours later.

“Morning already?” said Clyde as he got up from the hill and stretched. “Time sure does fly. The others will probably be awake soon.” Rarity started to take off Clyde’s jacket.

“Here, you can have this back,” she said.

“No, keep it,” said Clyde looking down at her. “My time with that is past due.” She looked back at him and nodded and put the jacket back on. He helped her up and they walked down the hill together back to the camp. Clyde walked over to the dead fire and took a blanket from the pile beside it trying not to wake Cannon, Patel, Wahlburn, and Spike as they were all still passed out. He walked back over to Rarity.

“I’m going to take a quick nap before they wake up,” said Clyde, “do you want this?” He showed her the blanket.

Rarity shook her head and looked at his jacket that she was wearing. “No, I’ll just use this." She grabbed the edge of his old jacket and smiled.

“Alright, well, wake me if you need me,” said Clyde as he turned to head back to the middle of the camp to join his fellow mates in sleep.

“Wait, Clyde,” said Rarity and he stopped with his back still turned, “thank you for actually caring and coming to find me. I’m glad I have someone I can trust here. I won’t forget it. I never would have thought any of your group would ever be worried about my friends, let alone me.”

Clyde turned around and smiled. “Don’t mention it. I’m glad I could help.” She waved at him then entered her tent she put up from the night before.

He turned back around and walked closer to the middle of the camp to find a spot to rest. He was both tired and not tired at the same time. His time awake wasn’t wasted in his opinion so it didn’t really matter to him. He laid down a good distance away from the others and closed his eyes. The last thing he remembered was the events of the past day before he finally drifted to sleep.

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