//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: To Whom It May Concern // by Wheller //------------------------------// Chapter 2 “No! Stop, you can’t do this!” Derpy cried out as two metal armour clad ponies dragged her along. “That package doesn’t belong to you!” The two ponies didn’t particularly seem to care; rather, they opened a large metal cell door and tossed her inside without another thought. The door slammed shut and Derpy leapt to her hooves, rushing towards and banging on the bars of the cell. No one came, everyone just ignored her. Derpy slumped to the ground. She had failed, she let Pete down, she let Earl down, and she let herself down. And now, here she was, letting Dinky down too because she had told her that it was a quick trip, there and back. She wouldn’t be gone long. I’ll be back before you know it. That was about the time that Derpy noticed that she was not in the cell alone. Out of the corner of her eye, Derpy looked and there he was. Derpy jumped in surprise, her heart began to race, but she forced herself to calm down and then got a better look. It was an earth pony, he was sitting quietly, barely aware of her, reading a book. What really had startled Derpy was the fact that he was covered from head to hoof in bandages. He also seemed to be wearing riot barding. Derpy took a closer look, it was definitely riot barding. Derpy looked closer and read what it said on it. “CPS C019.” “That’s ‘Canterlot Police Service’” the earth pony said without even bothering to look up from his book. Derpy practically leapt into the air at the bandaged pony’s speech. He did not look up from his book. “Calm yourself,” the earth pony said simply. “You are among a friend.” Derpy took a deep breath, and sat down on the ground. “I’m... sorry, you just startled me is all...” “I tend to have that effect on ponies,” the earth pony said without looking up. “I’m Derpy Hooves; I’m a package courier with Pony Express.” “I’m Graham Cracker; I suppose you could call me the mayor of Ashville,” Graham said simply. He shut his book and looked up at Derpy. Graham Cracker’s bright blue eyes were all that she could see of him. “I was expecting a courier... just not you, though; I suppose he wouldn’t have walked through the passageway.” “I was carrying a package to Ashville, Retslaf took it,” Derpy said. “I’m going to admit... I’m not entirely sure at what’s going on here...” “Isn’t it simple? Hopeton and Ashville are at war with each other,” Graham said, like it was obvious. “The inhabitants of Hopeton hate us because we’re better off than they are. We’re sheltered from the Divide’s rogue weather patterns, they are not. So they wish to destroy us and take our town for their own... We tried to be reasonable, tried to reach a peaceful solution... it did not happen, now, we fight. It’s the way of life.” “I see...” Derpy said. She kind of regretted that she had asked. “What were you reading?” “The book of Nephi,” Graham said simply. The book of Nephi... that sounded familiar, Derpy had heard that from somewhere before... That was when it hit her. The Book of Nephi was the holy book of the nephites, a religious group that shunned Princess Luna and Princess Celestia as deities. They weren’t exactly popular in Equestria; many had taken to dubbing them “morons.” Many called them worse. “So... uh... you’re a moron huh?” Derpy said, then the thought of exactly what she had said hit her, and she gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves. She could not believe that she had just said that out loud. Graham Cracker looked right at her, his bright blue eyes felt as if they were drilling through her skull, but what bothered her the most was probably the fact that she couldn’t see Graham Cracker’s face, she had no idea what the expression that he had under those bandages was. “Well... considering my current situation, I’d say yes, I am a moron,” Graham said with a chuckle. That was a joke. Graham was smiling at her under those bandages. “I do not take offence; many of us have even started using the name ‘moron’ as a badge of honour.” “Still... I don’t want to imply that you’re stupid... I know what it’s like to be called things that I’m not,” Derpy said. “You are kind,” Graham said simply. “Come, stand with me, it’s almost meal time.” As if on cue, a unicorn levitating two trays of food and a pistol appeared into view, unlocked the door, and walked in. She set the food down on the floor and pushed it towards them. “Heavenly father,” Graham said, bowing his head. “I thank thee for the food that thou provides for us. I thank thee that our captors are not so brutish to have denied us our basic needs...” The unicorn looked particularly annoyed, and glanced around the corner, looking bored. That was when Graham made his move; he leapt out and tackled the unicorn to the ground, promptly snapping her neck, causing her pistol to fall to the ground. “And I ask thee’s forgiveness for what I have done,” Graham said, finishing his prayer, and picking up the fallen guard’s pistol and spare ammunition. Derpy’s mouth dropped wide open in shock. Graham looked back around at her and waved her on, “Come Derpy, we’re leaving.” Derpy followed, and watched as Graham attached the pistol and the extra ammo to a harness on his flanks that Derpy had not noticed before, a small metal arm extended out in front of him as he trotted out of the cell. “Schäferhund Storm Harness,” Graham explained. “I can’t exactly use my teeth as most would.” Derpy watched in awe, she was frightened, to say the least, but she figured that she was better off following Graham than staying here, she slowly followed him out, taking care to step around the dead unicorn and out of the cell door. “Stay behind me, you’ll be fine,” Graham said as he casually strolled away from the holding cells. They rounded a corner, and into the field of view of two other earth pony guards, Graham fired the pistol, two shots, enough to bring down the two guards without incident. Graham looked back to the frightened Derpy Hooves. "I don't enjoy killing, but when done righteously, it's just a chore, like any other," he said simply, and continued to trot out towards the back entrance to the holding facility. Graham pushed open the door quickly, catching two more guards by surprise. One of them being an earth pony with a spear, and a unicorn with a pistol just like his own, two more shots rang out and the ponies collapsed to the floor. Graham quickly picked up the gun and its ammunition and gave it to Derpy. They were outside the holding facility and into the open air of the Divide itself. “Come! We need to get as far away from here as possible before they realise we’re gone. Most of Retslaf’s guards are eating. We won’t get a better chance,” Graham said. “What about the package?” Derpy asked. “We’ll worry about it later, your life is more important than the package, don’t forget that,” Graham said, he waved her on, and without another word the two ponies galloped away into the sunset. ... Graham Cracker and Derpy stopped after twenty straight minutes of running. Derpy was exhausted. Graham on the other hoof didn’t seem to be at all phased. Derpy had taken notice that the Divide was littered with old, ruined buildings between the two towns of Hopeton and Ashville, and as such, they had stopped just outside one. Graham pushed open the door to reveal what had once been somepony’s residence, though it looked as if it had not been occupied as such in quite a long time. “We can stop and rest here for tonight. It’s not safe to continue on during the night,” Graham said simply as he sat down on a poorly aged sofa. “I have to change my bandages; you’re not going to want to watch this part.” “Why...?” Derpy began, but Graham cut her off. “The bandages are for burns. The price of failure,” Graham said simply. “There is a time and a place for everything. For that tale, this is neither the time nor the place. You should try to get some rest; we’ll be waking up early tomorrow.” Derpy nodded and went into another room and lied down on the ground, she closed her eyes and tried to do her best to sleep. Sleep did come quickly, her dreams, however, were haunted by the pony that had helped her escape. Graham Cracker frightened Derpy Hooves, despite his calm, and collected demeanour, the holy pony’s quick resort to violence had rattled Derpy’s mind. Her dreams were filled with Graham Cracker mercilessly killing the inhabitants of Ponyville. Derpy Hooves would get no rest that night.