//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 Silent Protection // Story: Both Sides of the Blade // by AverageMemory //------------------------------// When we got back to the house, Derek started to rage on me. “What the hell, bro? Are you becoming senile in your old age?” He asked me. “I’m only 46...” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Well, when I’m that old, remind me not to do stupid shit like that.” he said mockingly. “Giving our names to the one we steal from. Nonsense!” “I’m sorry. I can’t help but to treat a mare like a mare. With respect, in case you don’t know how that works.” I replied in the same tone. Derek chuckled, “You sure are strange, old man.” His expression turned annoyed. “Remind me again why you didn’t let me kill the mare.” he said. “Because,” I said, going through the books we had gotten. “If we kill her, the entire land would be thrown into chaos, and it’s our job to prevent chaos.” Derek turned away. Obviously he didn’t agree with my decision, but this is for the best. Besides, killing for no reason other than getting caught stealing would just add insult to injury. As I read one of the books, a certain page caught my eye. It was illustrated with a post-apocalyptic scene. “Derek, I think I found something.” I said. He snickered. Walking over he caught glimpse of the picture. “Nice.” he said. “Listen to this,” I told him. “Into Darkness, I shall cast all. With a small show of strength, three will fall. And with my mighty scythe, I shall rend, the land you love to its bitter end.” Derek let out a low whistle. “Sweet. I look forward to this one.” “If it happens within our lifetimes.” I added. “Take note in the journal.” The journal hovered down to Derek. “Who's this prophecy for?” he asked. I looked at the page. It was lacking a name to go with it. I flipped through pages, but found nothing. Thinking back, the only supernatural evil to use a scythe was Orobas. “Just write down Orobas for now, we’ll find out later.” I told him. A quill flew from my desk over to Derek, and wrote in the journal. “Ok, Majora. Note taken.” he confirmed. “I wonder what that mare is doing now.” I thought aloud. Derek winced. “Well, knowing how curious normal folk around here are, she’s probably gonna be looking for us.” I face-hoofed. “Great,” I sighed, “Even more complications, we sure are unlucky today.” “Don’t worry,” Derek reassured. “Nopony would ever come out this far into the Everfree Forest.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Who were those two stallions?” Twilight thought aloud. She was flipping through the Equestria Census, but couldn’t find what she was looking for. She couldn’t find the name Derek. “It’s as if he doesn’t even exist.” she looked back to the pentagram, still burned into her floor. Black magic is only used by really bad ponies. They must be evil, she thought. She was flipping through the pages when she found an entry on Majora. “Ok... he’s how old?” she wondered aloud. She gasped. “Deceased?!” The page said he was a soldier, but he died... 5 years ago. Impossible. The stallion in the picture was the one she saw last night, how could he be dead? It says he was a Captain of the Royal Guard, but he was killed in a landslide. Well, If anypony would know how a dead pony was in her library, it would be Zecora. “Spike, I’m going to Zecora’s hut, watch the library.” she called out. “Ok. Be careful out there.” he said. Twilight left her the house and moved toward Everfree forest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zecora was outside looking through shrubs for ingredients to a new potion when Twilight approached. “Hello, Zecora!” Twilight called to her. “What brings you to Everfree? What is it that you want from me, little pony?” Zecora said quickly, obviously impatient with her current task. “I was wondering if you knew where two stallions by the names of Majora and Derek lived?” Twilight asked. “Why would you seek Majora and Derek? Who would be so bold as to make such a trek?” Zecora asked. “I NEED to find them.” Twilight insisted. Zecora sighed. “About them, I don’t know a lot, but there is somepony who might have a thought. Being surrounded by magic all about. This, I know without a doubt. Siblings lost long ago, yet share the talent to boast off and show.” Twilight thought. Boast and show rang a bell. She obviously meant... “Trixie.” Zecora nodded. Trixie must be related to one of the thieves, she thought. Twilight cringed. She decided Manehatten would be her best bet in finding Trixie. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Manehatten is the biggest city in Equestria. To find one pony would be almost impossible. Good thing Trixie was just getting there herself. “Trixie!” Twilight called out. Trixie looked back and cringed. “Why are you FOLLOWING me you creep? The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t need anymore fans.” Trixie waved off Twilight, and kept walking. “Trixie I need to talk to you about your brother!” Twilight said, quite loudly. Trixie stopped, and turned her head slowly. “I don’t have a brother.” “What the unicorns name...” Twilight thought. “De... Der... Dare.... Derek!” Trixie looked sick, then sad, then confused. “What do you know about Dare?” Trixie walked up to Twilight. “The Great and Powerful Trixie demands that you tell her.” “He broke into my house.” Twilight said. Trixie began to laugh. “Tis indeed The Great and Powerful Trixie’s brother.” she exclaimed. “Do you know where he lives?” Twilight asked. Trixie scoffed. “Why would The Great and Powerful Trixie give her own blood away to the likes of YOU?” Twilight realized this wasn’t going to go her way. There was a long silence. "What if I gave you a book on advanced magic?" Twilight asked, desperately. "And just why do you think that The Great and Powerful Trixie needs help from you?" she sneered. "Well," Twilight said, "It'll help you with your shows, and maybe even let you do what you claim to be able to do." "Are you mocking The Great and Powerful Trixie!?" Trixie yelled. “No!" Twilight said, "I'm just trying to help, and find out what happened to the books your brother stole." Trixie stared at her. “Fine, the Greater and more Powerful brother of the Great and Powerful Trixie lives deep in the Everfree Forest. The center to be exact.” Greater and More Powerful? Twilight gulped. If Trixie was saying something like that, this was probably going to be harder then she wanted it to be. Oh, and on top of that, more walking through the deadly forest... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Derek was flipping through his books. “Yo, old man, what do you know about Orobas to begin with!?” he shouted as loud as he could. To my dismay he was right next to me. “Not much,” I told him, as my ears rang. “So far all I know is that he was sealed away by the Princess and her sister long ago.” “Going back to that prophecy on him.” Derek began, “I was thinking along the lines of three ponies suddenly dying, at the same time, to signify his coming.” I nodded. “Sounds about right. We certainly don’t want him to rend anything to a bitter end either.” There was a knock on the door. “Shit, almost forgot what that sounds like.” Derek said. “You think it’s the brat?” I sighed, “If by that you mean the mare we steal from every Tuesday, then yes, I would believe that is her.” Right on time, I thought as I opened the door. “YOU!” she shrieked. “You.” I replied. “Give me back my books!” she demanded. I stared her down, then closed the door. “What did she want?” Derek asked. “Nothing,” I replied. “she just came by to say ‘Hello’.” The knocking came back. I sighed. “What should we do?” I asked Derek. In hindsight, I should’ve expected his response. “Kill her.” He replied. I rolled my eyes, “Like I said to you before, she’s important to the entire world. We've both witnessed her power first hand.” He laughed, “Of course, which she cannot call upon unless her friends are around.” He chuckled a bit more before finally saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll go tell her off.” He walked over to the door and opened it with his magic. “What the BUCK do you want?” He spat. “You stole my books!” Twilight said. “AND?” Derek yelled in her face. “It’s a bucking LIBRARY!” Twilights eyes narrowed, “Did you ASK?!” she yelled back. “NO! WE DON’T NEED TO!” he yelled back at her. I sighed and walked over to the door. “I’ll take it from here.” I said. “Sweet, are you gonna kill her Majora?” he asked eagerly. “No.” I sighed. “Twilight, just let it go, we will give the books back eventually.” There was a rustle in the bushes behind her. My imagination got the best of me. I grabbed my old crossbow and took aim at the bush. “What are you doing with that weapon!?” she asked, a bit startled I suppose. I eyeballed her. “We sometimes get soldiers out here looking to kill us.” I said softly. “Majora, relax.” Derek said, putting his hoof on my crossbow. A small rabbit jumped out of the bush. I sighed, lowering my weapon. “Why do you have THAT!?” Twilight asked. “I was a soldier a long time ago.” I told her, putting my crossbow back on its rack. “I served with Lord Armor.” Twilight’s eyes beamed. “You know Shining Armor?” “Yes...” I said. The look on her face meant she knew him. Potentially bad for me. “I was his associate, and was ordered to protect him for a couple of years before I almost died.” I turned my attention to Derek. “He saved me, and I’ve helped him save Equestria ever since.” Twilight chuckled. “Is this your excuse for never being around in daylight?” she asked, sarcastically. "No," Derrek said, equally sarcastically, "I'm a bucking vampire." Frankly, I couldn't see the humor in their exchange. “We prevent disasters by taking action before they have a chance to happen.Your princess hates us, so she outlawed us, which forces us to work in secret.” I said gravely. Twilight seemed unnerved. “Well, I best be off. Good bye!” She said. Wasting no time, she ran off. “Old man, she has ties to Shining Armor, I saw it in her face when his name was mentioned.” Derek said. “Outlaws...” I said to myself again and again. Derek walked over to me. “We’ve been over this Majora, there’s no going back.” I stared at the blackening sky outside my window. Where is my life going? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~