//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: A "hero's" introduction // Story: Left 4 Derpy 2 // by Edmar Fecler //------------------------------// “…Son of a BITCH!” “Francis!” Ditzy said in a shocked voice as she recoiled a bit. “Please watch your language! There’s a filly present!” “Well for starters, I think I have a right to talk to you however I please after you turned me into a freaking pony!” The gruff speaking pegasi paused momentarily. “…And what the hell is a ‘filly’?” “It’s a baby pony, Francis,” Zoey said in a flat tone of voice. “Shit, you brought another one with you this time?! Gah!” Francis rolled his eyes as he turned back down the hall. “As if one of you freaks was bad enough! Oh, and let me guess,” he continued, turning back to the group, “’Ohhh, we have to take her with us to help her get home and blabady blah blah!’” Francis shot them an irritated scowl before turning and walking back down the hall from whence he came. Ditzy looked up to the others in a stunned curiosity, silently asking for an explanation. Bill let out a sigh and adjusted his beret. “He’s been pissed ever since the wings started growing out of his back. Lemme tell ya, you would not believe the difficulties we’ve had trying to convince survivors to help us.” “Yeah,” Louis said, “this one guy held up in a church even called a horde down on our asses.” Ditzy glared at him sternly. “Oh- oh right, language. Sorry.” Ditzy let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to the bed where Dinky had been peeking out from under the blankets, silently watching what was going on. Ditzy couldn’t possibly know what was going through her poor child’s mind right now, but it pained her none the less to know that she was in this violent, hostile world. “What am I going to do?” Ditzy whispered to herself. “I couldn’t possibly drag her through what I went through. Nopony should have to endure that, especially my sweet little muffin. But what choice do I have? Stay here and wait for an inevitable horde or special infected to find us and kill us both?” She looked back up to the three familiar faces around her. “…Or brave the zombie masses with the only people that I know can protect us?” Zoey kneeled down and gingerly placed a hand on Ditzy’s soft cheek. “I swear to you, we’ll keep you two safe until you find your way home. We’ve done it once already under worse conditions, so I think we’ll manage just fine this time around.” “Just don’t go biting at us this time,” Louis said jokingly. Ditzy was about say something in response, but was cut short when Dinky spoke up. “Mom, is it ok if I come out now since the heroes are here?” the filly asked cautiously. “Sure, Dinky, you can come out now,” Ditzy said in a motherly tone as she walked back into the room. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched Dinky wriggle her way out from under the covers before hopping down to the floor. The filly smiled lovingly up to her mother before looking to the three humans in the doorway. “…They’re different from what I expected,” Dinky said curiously as she cocked an eyebrow. “Well, all but Francis. And why do they say such mean words?” Ditzy wrapped a hoof around the filly. “It’s a bad habit that I’ve been trying to break them of,” she said in an informative tone as she looked up and eyed the survivors. Louis rubbed the back of his neck instinctively. “Do you want to go introduce yourself to them?” Ditzy asked. Dinky looked up to her and nodded excitedly. “Alright then. Remember to be polite,” she said in a motherly tone. A big smile spread across Dinky’s face as she ran to the open door. She stopped just before the frame and looked to the three humans in the hallway. Bill and Louis looked down to her while Zoey, who was still crouching, grinned at the cute filly. She reached out an open, inviting hand to Dinky. “Hey there, Dinky. I’m Zoey,” she said sweetly. “Your mother has told us about how a good little filly you are.” Dinky blushed a bit. “It’s nice to meet you, Zoey. Mommy’s told me a lot about the adventures she went on with you,” she said energetically. “It’s so awesome to finally meet you all in person.” “It’s nice to meet you too, kid,” Bill said gruffly, but with a pleasant tone. “Yeah man, though I wish it were under better circumstances. I’m Louis, by the way. And this is Bill,” Louis said as he laid an open hand on Bill’s shoulder. He noticed Ditzy walking up beside Dinky and nodded to her. “So… heros, huh?” he asked jokingly. Ditzy shrugged. “Better than ‘killer vigilantes’,” she replied as she wrapped a hoof around her filly. Dinky’s smile shrunk slightly as a puzzled look came across her face. “I don’t understand though… why is it that Francis is a pony, but you three are still ‘hue-mens’? Were you changed into huemens by the disease that made everyone else zambies?” “’Humans’, dear,” Ditzy corrected politely. “Quite the opposite, actually,” Zoey said as she stood back up. “Francis used to be human, but was somehow turned into a pony after Ditzy bit him.” Dinky turned to her mother, a look of confusion on her face. “I don’t really understand it either, dear,” Ditzy said plainly as she shrugged. Bill stepped forward and slung his trusty rifle to the ready. “I hate to cut the welcoming committee short,” he said bluntly, “But we’ve had a horde tailing us for the past hour.” Dinky stifled a giggle at his choice of words, though he didn’t notice. “We were already on our way to a safe house that’s not too far from here, according to the map. We can finish introductions and explanations there, okay Ditzy?” Ditzy looked down to Dinky. She dreaded the very idea that her innocent filly would be exposed to the horrors of this apocalyptic world, but at this point such an event was inevitable. Of course this in no way made Ditzy feel any better, but she didn’t exactly have much say in the matter. All she could hope to do is help guide Dinky through the upcoming gauntlet one step at a time, helping her and protecting her at every turn. “…Okay,” Ditzy said reluctantly after a moment of consideration. “We’ll come with you to the safe house and continue this conversation there.” Bill nodded. “It should be just past this building. With any luck there won’t be much between us and the safe house,” he said as he headed down the hallway in the direction that Francis had gone. He stopped at the stairs and looked back at the others expectantly. Zoey stood up and slung the AK-47 off her back before looking back down to Dinky. “Don’t worry,” she said confidently, “We’ll keep the big bad zombies from hurting you.” “That’s right Dinky, as long as we’re here we won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Ditzy said to her grinning filly. Louis and Zoey could hear a great deal of worry in Ditzy’s voice. Dinky smiled so wide she had to shut her eyes. “And that’s why you’re the best mommy a filly could ask for,” she said happily. Louis grasped his chest and bent over as he felt his heart explode. Zoey, however, simply smiled at the filly’s adorableness. Dinky used ‘cuteness cannon’. It’s super effective. “Come on, the more time we stand here the more likely it is that a horde will start bursting through the walls,” Bill said bluntly, seemingly unaffected by Dinky’s words. Louis and Zoey sighed a bit as they begrudgingly made their way down the hallway to the old veteran. Ditzy, walking closely to her filly, followed shortly after. Bill let Louis and Zoey lead the way down the stairs before following suit behind Ditzy. The five of them followed the hallway until the right wall opened up into what had been a kitchen. All that was left now was a filthy, empty room with a set of counters and a stove, as well as three ceiling-to-floor windows in the adjacent wall from where they stood. Francis stood in front of the center window, holding a hoof against the tainted glass as he looked to the streets below. “Francis,” Bill said as he approached the windows, “What’s it look like out there?” “Well I’ve got some bad news, and some worse news,” the biker-themed pegasus stated bluntly. Louis rolled his eyes. “Come on Francis, it can’t be that bad,” he said optimistically. “The bad news is that the safe house is in that old hotel across the street,” Francis said, ignoring Louis’ optimism. “…How is that bad news?” Ditzy asked. “Its bad news because of the worse news,” Francis continued, his eye twitching irritably at hearing Ditzy’s voice. “The worst news being that there’s got to be at least two-hundred freaking vampires in the street between us and it.” The group walked up to the windows, looking down to the streets alongside Francis. Sure enough, the streets were swarming with a mass of zombies so thick that they couldn’t even see the pavement. Bill pursed his lips and sighed. “Well… shit.”