My Friend Ditzy

by WeirdBeard

Chapter 5- Unexpected

“Zero hostiles. Move in,” Sergeant Anders quietly commanded. I quickly followed the rest of the squad into the room. All was going well thus far; a bit too well. There had been no resistance to our entrance into Stokes Innovations. The giant warehouse was completely devoid of any and all living beings. Its' stone-gray walls seemed to close in around us, each room nearly identical to the the other. It was almost deathly silent, but the continual humming of the computers and our own breathing interrupted that. Anders hadn’t said anything about it yet, but I could tell the situation was unnerving him. His dark forehead was tinted with beads of sweat. I reflected over the past hour as the squad spread out of their formation.

Thankfully the whole operation wasn't hinged on my motives alone. It had turned out that several agencies had it out for Darian Stokes. He frequented in some very lucrative dealings both nationally and globally. Ordinarily the white collar division would just detain him, but recent acts of violence from his organization proved that he was a force to be reckoned with. When I had brought news to my former division that he kidnapped a friend of mine, it helped quicken the plans for retaliation. Of course, I couldn't tell the commanding officers everything about Ditzy in order for them to believe me.

However, with several connections to the current higher-ups (and a lot of luck), I was granted access and temporary reinstatement for the mission. They owed me after all; I helped them a great deal back when they were scrawny misfits in basic training. The team that I was paired with took much more convincing though. My information was a bit sketchy, but still was as close to the truth as possible while still remaining sane:

'The daughter of a foreign diplomat was staying at the home of Cecil Evans as a favor he owed to the family. The daughter, who prefers the name 'Ditzi', is very short and has long, blonde hair. Evans will be needed to ID her as she is a heavily protected witness and almost all methods of identification are completely classified. Darian Stokes invaded Evans' home and kidnapped her for unknown reasons a little over twelve hours ago. Before Evans was shot by Stokes, he overheard mention of experimentation on the girl. With that in mind, it will be possible that she might appear different from alterations. It is imperative that "Operation Foreclosure" commence immediately.' This fairly summarized all of the report's notes.

I felt guilty having to omit several details, but Ditzy's life was at stake! I had to do any and everything possible to get the clearance and support required. By some stroke of divine intervention, the team accepted all of the details except for one particular note.

"Care to explain how you're still living, Chief?" one of the subordinates had asked. One glance at him revealed that he was still very much a rookie, wet behind the ears and everything. "You were shot point-blank and yet here you are."

In order to answer his question, I undid my shirt to reveal the indented chest plate. "The fool used some custom pistol. The bullet did diddly squat, but the dang thing packed enough punch to knock me back. This proves that he really isn't that intelligent, but he is reckless enough to cause some unforeseeable trouble. While I got lucky, I was still knocked unconscious and he kidnapped Ditzi. Which is all the more reason to get this operation going now."

The private began to protest. "Bullsh-"

"That's enough, Private!" Sergeant Anders shouted. "We have had much less information going into past missions. Frankly, it's a darn-well privilege to have General Evans working with us on this. Oh, you didn't recognize the legend standing in front of you?!" he accused, noticing the rookie's shock in realization. "He was saving lives while you were a pathetic sperm cell in your pop's nutsack! Not another squeal of doubt from all of you about this mission, UNDERSTAND?!"

"Yes sir!" the squad loudly replied. The private sunk sheepishly into his chair.

Anders nodded. "Good! We're bugging out in twenty, gear up!"

Another empty room. This was impossible, where was Stokes and all of his goons? I shifted my Kevlar vest once more and examined the rifle assigned to me. Justifiably, I had been tested back at the base to see if I was really up for another field op. Needless to say, I still got it. 'Once a soldier, always a soldier' as they say.

Anders touched his earpiece. "Overlord, no sign of the target nor any resistance. Can you confirm that the target is here?"

"Affirmative, Bravo, no one has come in or out of the building for two hours. Thermal scans have indicated that the target is at your exact position," a calm voice replied in our earpieces. Each squad member looked at each other questioningly.

"Overlord, we believe those scans could be faulty. The machinery is probably what is being shown in your scans," said Anders hastily.

The voice continued. "Negative, Bravo, our equipment is specifically set to human heat signatures. The target is still there."

"Understood, Overlord. Out," Anders replied. He frustratingly sighed and glanced about the room, pondering. "Corporal, lead the squad to investigate other rooms while Evans and I hold position here."

The corporal nodded and silently proceeded out with his team in tow. Anders turned his attention to an array of video monitors in a corner of the room. I kept watch over the back door, still wary of anything that might be in wait. I muttered, "It's too quiet, Sergeant. I don't like this at all."

"You and me both, General," Anders reaffirmed. He typed in a series of commands on the computer and the monitors suddenly listed various times and dates. "Bingo. Got video and audio surveillance of this room."

Finally some good news. "Can you play the most recent?" I asked.

He entered in the latest recording, but an error message popped up. "Bah! It's a log-entry system. Blasted thing only allows playback from a certain point onward."

"Computers make everything easier, huh?" I grimly joked.

Anders nodded, punching in the only option. The monitors reverted to a wide shot of our current room with several men in lab-coats bustling about. The time-code at the bottom revealed that this occurred three weeks ago. The unmistakable figure of Darian entered in.

"Status!" he barked loudly.

A smaller scientist approached hesitantly and handed him a folder. "Everything's going according to plan, sir," the scientist replied. His nasally voice betrayed his feelings of fear. "We will be able to activate the device in a month."

"A month?" Darian quietly asked. The other scientists stopped what they were doing and became silent as they watched the scene unfold. Darian inhaled deeply. He reared his arm back and then punched the informant squarely in the jaw. The blow knocked the poor sap onto the floor. "Was I not clear that I wanted this done next week?!"

Another scientist stepped forward to help his fallen colleague. "B-bu-but, sir! We need more time to stabilize everything. Even though we finally have access to this alternate dimension, there must be additional preparation."

"This has to be done sooner! We won't get another opportunity like this. Don't any of you dolts understand my plan?!" Darian angrily questioned.

The injured scientist leaned against his supporter. "Mr. Stokes, there's just so much risk- AAARRRGHGHH!" the scientist howled in pain as Darian brutally kicked in his kneecap.

"There's so much to achieve! You have all seen the raw power that these beings possess. Every country in the world is in turmoil and now is the time to act," he explained. "The younger of the two is at her most vulnerable and will be easier to control. We will activate the portal in one week."

The video cut out and started loading the next clip. "I'm glad to see that, whatever his nutcase plans were, things didn't work out," Anders stated.

I nodded half-heartedly, knowing that part of his plan did work. The video began playing once more, this time-code matching the night that Ditzy first showed up in my home.

A large crowd of both scientists and guards were circled around the room. Each of them shared grim expressions and shuffled nervously. Darian entered in, an aura of absolute rage radiated from him. "Doctor Cutter!" he yelled.

The same scientist from the first video stepped forward. He immediately bowed his head, but then looked up to face Darian. "The device worked, Mr. Stokes."

"Did it?! Then where is the alicorn?!" Darian asked, a cruel sneer masked over his face.

The scientist started breathing faster. He bit his lip and replied, "Well, the important thing is that we transported one being from another dimension to our own! We've made a scientific breakthrough!"

"A scientific breakthrough, you say? Look at this, Doctor Cutter," the sinister business man commanded as he dragged the scientist to a tall, stand-alone video display. “Do you see that portal? Noticed how there’s nothing there? Care to explain that?!”

“While it may not be here, we know that the transport was a success! Please, Mr. Stokes, it was such a difficulty with that unexpected storm on their end and the other interference. It wasn’t planned for!” Doctor Cutter exclaimed. He looked desperately to his colleagues, but none of them came to his aid.

Darian nodded solemnly. “It’s okay, Cutter, I understand,” he whispered. Darian patted his back and gripped the display tower. “I didn’t plan for this either.”

He then pulled the tower down, effectively crushing Doctor Cutter underneath. The heavy impact immediately killed the scientist and left the witnesses with shocked expressions. Darian glared at each of them. “No. More. Mistakes,” he snarled. “Run our scanners for where the alicorn was transported. And someone clean this mess!”

The video cut out once more and began loading the last log. I studied Anders’ look of confusion, something weighing heavily on his mind. “What on Earth is an alicorn?”

I shrugged in honesty. “I was wondering the same thing, Sergeant. Whatever it is, it doesn’t bode well for anyone if Stokes gets his hands on it.”

Anders opened his mouth to reply, but the final video interrupted him.

The time-code matched today, only a few hours ago. The room was abuzz with scientists again, everyone bustling about. Darian was at the center-most point and glared relentlessly at them. "Move it, ladies! Why hasn't the portal been activated yet?!"

One of his guards piped up, "Mr. Stokes, we'll be ready to bring the target in a few minutes. It is rather dangerous though since it is currently in Ta-"

"Does it look like I care?! If it's really that big of a concern, then everyone go into the chamber!" Darian commanded furiously. When no one made a move, he shouted, "NOW! And bring the mistake!"

Immediately, a heavy-set scientist tapped a panel on the wall. A loud clunk rang in the air and a descending stairwell gradually appeared in the center of the room. Everyone began to proceed downwards into the chamber. Including the guard holding an unconscious Ditzy. Another guard, the one I recognized as Duncan, stopped and faced Darian.

"You know, uh, boss, I don't think she's a mistake. Why are we doing this anyway? They're all innocent.. this doesn't feel right," Duncan stated.

Darian breathed in heavily and furrowed his brow. In one quick motion, he pulled out his handgun and fired squarely at Duncan's forehead. Unfortunately, Darian had finally upgraded his ammo, and the shot obliterated Duncan's skull. His giant corpse collapsed onto the floor while Darian shook his head slowly. "I hate doubters, Duncan."

He stood there motionless for a time, until finally trudging down the stairwell. The video ended.

Anders remained quiet while I prodded the wall in search of the stairwell's activator. I knew he wanted to ask me if I knew more about the situation than I had previously detailed. Before he could voice his opinion, though, the squad returned to our position. "No contact in the whole facility. I really think this is just a wild goose chase, Sarge. We have no idea where he is," the corporal reported.

I continued sweeping my hands across the cold, concrete wall. Whatever Darian was planning, we had to get down there and stop him fast. My thoughts wandered to Ditzy's condition, and I quickened my search. Finally, my fingers skimmed across an indented surface on the wall. Upon pushing against it, the mechanism clicked and the same staircase from the video began to appear. "Now we do," I replied. "Quickly, we have to get down there!"

Almost as soon as the staircase began forming, screams of terror and panic echoed from the opening. The questions that Anders may have had suddenly disappeared as he shouted, "You heard the general, GO!"

All of us booked it down the stairs. The continued screaming unnerved the squad as adrenaline began to kick in. We finally emerged into a dome-like chamber, very spacious and expansive. However, it wasn't the size of the chamber that was most perplexing, but rather the scene of horror before us.

All throughout the precarious catwalks and maze-like machinery, both scientists and guards ran in fear. Numerous hulking, skeletal, red beasts chased after them with frightening speed. The weaker doctors fell easy prey to them while a few of the guards fired careless shots behind them. The beasts continued their onslaught, no signs of ceasing as even more leaped out from a crimson, glowing pillar of energy in the center of the chamber. Two of the beasts stopped their chase when they noticed our entrance and began charging towards us.

"OPEN FIRE!" Anders yelled. Everyone braced themselves and fired precise shots from our assault rifles. As luck would have it, the beasts were not invincible, and therefore perished as our bullets pierced them. "Move in and secure this chamber, we have to find the hostage!"

Bestial roars and gunfire rang out as we proceeded further into the chamber. However, despite all of these loud noises, I somehow heard a familiar sob above me. How I was able to hear this particular sound in the midst of it all is still a mystery. Then again, we were fighting what appeared to be hell-demons, so anything's possible now. I looked up and caught sight of a cage high atop the chaos. Cowering inside, was Ditzy.

A surge of adrenaline coursed through me as I sprinted to the nearest catwalk. The squad continued their offensive position, each of them purely focused with their shots. When I reached the crudely constructed stairs, another beast jumped directly in front of me. Thankfully my old senses kicked in once again, and three rapid shots put it down. I quickly traversed the catwalk and sprinted towards Ditzy's cage. The echo of my steps on the metal grating caused her to look up between her hooves. Her terrified expression immediately changed to joyful relief. "Cecil!" she exclaimed.

"Time to get you out of here! Step back, I'm going to shoot the lock," I replied quickly. Ditzy obliged and the lock broke easily with one shot. She pushed the gate open and embraced me faster than a heartbeat. The pegasus buried her face in my chest and hugged tighter. I patted her back gently and smiled. "It's okay. Let's get you home."

I lifted her off the floor and walked carefully back down. Her face peered over my shoulder and she suddenly gasped. "Behind you!" Ditzy shouted.

The warning caught me off guard and I turned around to witness Darian standing against the cage. His suit was tattered and stained with blood and ash. He glared insanely at us before lunging with unbelievable speed. The surprise left me defenseless as he barreled into me, but not before I could safely move Ditzy out of the way. Darian's tackle knocked both of us over the railing, falling a good twenty feet to the floor.

The impact jostled me, but my armor absorbed most of the blow. I shoved Darian off me immediately and realized we were dangerously close to his portal. It still pulsed brightly of its crimson color and more beasts kept emerging from within. The squad continued eliminating them, but the onslaught brought even more. "Shut it off!" I yelled at the crazed businessman.

"No!" he retorted straight away. "This is perfect! Even if I can't get exactly what I want, these creatures will still carry out my plans just the same!"

I pointed widely to the rest of the chamber and the absolute chaos. "This is perfect?! You insane prick, these things will kill you first before even listening to you! SHUT IT OFF!"

At my uproar, a guttural unearthly growl boomed from the portal. The remaining beasts suddenly cut off their attack and retreated back into whence they came. It was then that an even worse abomination stomped into the chamber. This... thing was the stuff of nightmares. Black fur covered its entire body, splotched with coagulated blood. Two gnarled horns protruded from its head that resembled menacing spears. Even though it moved on four legs, it towered well above all of us. A long, blade-like tail snaked in freakish patterns behind it. Its eyes were black as pitch and seemingly radiated the very thought of death. The monster reared back on its hind legs and loudly bellowed again.

Anders roared, "FIRE!" The mortified squad shook back fear and shot at the beast. Somehow, it absorbed every shot and smashed back down onto the floor. The impact not only knocked the squad off their feet, but sent out a dark wave of energy that set their rifles ablaze. They screamed in pain and writhed on the ground. The beast growled, but paused when Darian started clapping. I could scarcely believe it myself; the fool walked toward it.

"Well, look at you. Just the recruit I need to get my plans in motion. Exactly what I need," he chortled. He pulled out what appeared to be a tranquilizer gun and loaded it with an electronic dart. Darian fired the puny weapon, the dart piercing the beast's leg. "Now... obey."

It looked at the dart with heavy indifference and simply smashed it again the floor. Darian's face paled with dreadful realization that his device wouldn't work on the monster. Its tail struck into his chest and flung him into his own portal. So much for the brilliant genius controlling the situation.

The beast glanced slowly around the room for more prey. Thanks to Darian's tackle, I was now defenseless, since my weapons had fallen onto the catwalk. However, it wasn't me that the beast stalked towards. Instead, it targeted a pegasus paralyzed with fear. "Ditzy!"

My shout did nothing to her, neither did it gain the attention of the monster like I was hoping. She cowered as it moved closer and closer to her. I sprang to my feet and sprinted ahead of the beast. It snarled and quickened its pace. Just as I shoved Ditzy out of the way, I looked to up to see the monster's legs coming down at me.

"ENOUGH!" a voice shouted from nowhere yet everywhere at the same time. An abrupt flash appeared in front of me and knocked the beast back. As my eyes adjusted to this new view, I witnessed the being that saved my life. A majestic, navy-blue colored pony stood with its back to me, facing off against the monster. Was this the 'alicorn' that Darian had sought after? It definitely appeared powerful, its wings extended and horn glowing vividly. Before when I had felt powerless and weak by the very existence of the monster, I now felt a renewed sense of hope and courage from our new ally.

The beast roared furiously and charged toward us again. The alicorn steadied itself and a beam of brilliant energy shot forward from her horn. It connected squarely with the monster and propelled it back into the portal. The energy continued enveloping the crimson pillar until it shrunk into nothingness.

"Princess Luna!" Ditzy cried out. She galloped quickly to our rescuer and bowed before her.

Princess? I guess the title did fit, considering her royal appearance. Her mane somehow flowed with what appeared to be a starry night sky exhibited within. The Princess leaned down and touched her horn against Ditzy. "We've missed you, my little pony. I'm sorry that we could not have come earlier, but it was a lot worse on the other side in Tartaros. I believe you have my thanks for watching over Ditzy, Cecil."

I raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?"

"Let's just say that that vile human who brought Ditzy here wasn't the only one who could watch others. It wasn't until he activated that foul contraption again that we were able to finally come here," she replied. "Probably better that I came instead of Celestia. Last time she was here a whole nation ended up worshiping her."

Anders staggered towards me and pointed to our visitors. "Are they-?"

"Yep," I replied quickly.

"Am I-?"

"Nope."

He shook his head and muttered while walking back to his troops, "Hallelujah for classification."

Luna smiled. "Ditzy, your daughter is very anxious to see you, and we need to leave soon."

Ditzy nodded hesitantly. "Can I say goodbye?" she asked. When the princess nodded, Ditzy faced me. "Cecil... I, uh... heh, I'm not very good at this. I just-" she stopped, embracing me instead. "Thank you so much. I'll never forget you."

"Likewise, Ditzy. Take care of your kid and stay out of trouble, alright?" I joked.

She giggled and replied, "I will." She trotted back to Luna and glanced to me one last time. The princess' horn began to glow brightly and soon they were enveloped by the vivid light. After a brilliant flash, the light faded away from where they were. Ditzy was finally home.

I sighed contently and whispered, "Mission..."

"-accomplished," whispered the grandfather. He straightened against his hospital bed and stared out the window. His tale was told once again to his grand-daughters, this time without any of the censors he had when they were younger. They were much older now and deserved to hear the whole story. "That's how I met my friend, Ditzy."

The two teenage girls sat alongside his bed, nurses bustling about the room while they had listened to him. "Thanks for telling us that, Grandpa. It was a great story," said the younger granddaughter.

"Oh, it's not just a story," he replied. "It's much more than that."

The grandfather leaned into his pillow and closed his eyes as his granddaughters stood up to stretch for a moment. The older girl moved toward the window and opened it up for some fresh air. Her sister looked out alongside and whispered, "Do you think it really happened?"

She raised an eyebrow and looked back at their grandfather. He had already fallen back asleep from exhaustion. "Seriously, sis? C'mon, it was fun when we were younger, but you don't believe it, do you?"

The younger sister frowned and looked down at the floor. "I guess not."

They continued watching him sleep until a gust of wind from the open window disturbed their thoughts. "Ugh, got way too chilly now. Caitlin, can you close that window?" the older sister asked.

Caitlin walked back to the window and grabbed the sill, but stopped. "Allie... did you put this here?"

Allie looked questioningly at Caitlin. "Put what?" she asked, walking over to investigate. The find quieted both of them.

There on the windowsill, lay a gray feather, a muffin, and a note. Written on the note, was this message:

To my dear friend, Cecil,
Love,
Ditzy

A/N: Well! Here we are. I feel at ease now that I've finally gotten this up. I should and could have done it sooner, but something just didn't feel right about it. You probably figured out that it was that different genre transition that I wrote in Chapter 4. Truth be told, it was a peculiar and strange idea that I felt obsessed about for the story. I knew I didn't want to do some half-attempt at how Ditzy arrived there, and the notion for a villain such as Darian seemed a bit more original for this type of fic. Granted, maybe not the best idea, but I find it better than the over-used explanations for HiE/PiE fics. Might try my hand at comedy again.

I'm rambling again! Anyway, I really want to thank all of you for reading. It was a true pleasure writing this in the end and I'm glad that you enjoyed it and shared wonderful comments. Thank you so very much!