A Black Belt in a Colorful Land

by DismantledAccount

Chapter 15: Awakening

Chapter 15: Awakening

The Next Day, Dawn...

Ditzy was roughly lifted out of her bed. What's going on? she thought waking up to the feeling of burly earth ponies carrying her out of her house. "What are you doing? Let me go!" she said trying to escape their clutches. She broke free but her victory was short lived as one of the stallions grabbed her hind leg in his teeth and slammed her down onto the street. Ditzy was bound and gagged while she looked pleadingly at the ponies surrounding her. Help me somepony! Won't somepony help me? Anypony? ...Please?

"Ugly," they hissed, "Horrid beast. Demon mare. She must be killed..."

Ditzy struggled in vain against the ropes, only succeeding in giving herself rope burn. Why do you hate me? There were tears leaking out of her eyes, her ugly crooked eyes.

The crowds parted to reveal Bane, holding a small blade in his jaws. He was smiling evilly as he walked forward through the ponies.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She responded by shaking her head from side to side vigorously.

"Good. Let us begin," he said as all of the ponies stopped speaking and instead began to pound their hooves against the road in a slow beat.

Bane slowly walked closer as the ponies pounded their hooves faster and faster. Ditzy tried her best to shuffle away but was firmly immobilized by unicorn magic.

"I dmnt uhdursand whas haphanin," Ditzy choked out through the rope in her mouth, tears continuing to pour out of her eyes.

Bane stopped right in front of her and raised his knife. "We will cleanse what is unclean and destroy the unholy!" he yelled around the knife. Bane plunged the knife into her left eye and shook it around side to side, up and down, destroying her eye completely. Ditzy could feel the blade scraping against the inside of her eye socket as her blood coated Bane's face. She gave into the pain and fell into the welcoming abyss of unconsciousness.

---

"Ahhhhhhhhh!" screamed Ditzy, struggling to be free of her bonds. She was struggling and writhing, twisting and turning, but nothing was working. "Help me, plea-" Ditzy's pleas were silenced when she hit her head on the floor after falling out of her bed. Wait. Bed? Ditzy poked her head out of her 'bonds' to discover that she was still in her room. She crawled out of her pillowcase and stretched her joints, stiff from sleeping in such a confined area.

Ditzy shivered as she started remembering her terrifying dream. I have bad dreams all the time, especially about Bane... Mostly about Bane... Always about Bane... But never so vivid, she shuddered, or violent. What happened yesterday to trigger a dream so... bad? she thought, walking down her stairs into her living room.

On a hunch she looked over at her sofa, half not expecting to see anything out of the ordinary. Oh, I see... yeah that could trigger a dream like that, she thought, seeing Alexander and recalling the traumatic experience of fixing up his leg. She slowly walked over to him. "Are you awake?" Ditzy whispered. "Hello?" I guess he's still asleep. She looked at him carefully to determine if he was feeling better or not. I think he looks a little bit better. Maybe. But the towel is really really red, I wonder if I should change it? No, I had better leave it alone, he would have told me if I had to do anything else, wouldn't he? she thought walking into her kitchen to get some breakfast.

She grabbed a cinnamon muffin then walked out the door, remembering to lock it this time. She quickly flew over to Ponyville's library and let herself in, her muffin long since eaten on the trip. "Twilight?" she called. No answer. I guess she isn't back yet. She looked around for a few minutes until she found some paper and a pencil. She wrote:

Twilight,

Alaxandar is at my house. He is injured. Come over when you get this.

(Please help me, I don't know what to do!)

Ditzy Doo.

Ditzy placed the letter on the kitchen table, hoping it would be found sooner than later. She nodded in satisfaction and walked out of the door. She then jumped into the air and began flying home. I guess I woke up later than I thought, I probably should have checked my alarm clock, she thought, looking at the sun. She flew home at a much more leisurely pace than her trip to the library. I was really hoping that Twilight and her friends would be back by now. I'm not qualified to handle first contact with a new species. What am I supposed to do with him now? she thought, spying Bane below her. She failed to repress an involuntary shudder and flew higher, hoping he wouldn't look up.

Thankfully she reached her house without incident. She unlocked her door with the key she always kept under her doormat and walked inside. She noticed two things immediately: one Alexander was looking better, sort of... And two, he was lying face down on the floor. She almost rushed to his side but stopped a few hooves away, remembering his knife. "Hello? Alexander? Are you okay?" she called softly. "Alexander?" she called a bit louder, but not moving any closer. Should I get a doctor or a nurse? Is he okay? I just don't know what to do, she thought, stepping closer cautiously.

Alexander suddenly gave a huge gasp and looked around wildly, startling her in the process. "Wha? Who? Where? Oh, right. Snake. You. Here." he said, focusing his eyes on her.

"Ummm. Yeah, me. What were you doing on the floor?" Ditzy asked. She uncomfortably noted his eyes no longer seemed to be drifting around, instead they were locked on her one good eye.

"Would you believe me if I told you I was practicing my technique for licking the ground?" he asked.

"No."

"Darn. Well, what I was actually doing was trying to escape before you got back, nothing personal. But it appears that it is much easier said than done," he said, carefully climbing back onto her sofa. "I don't think I'll be going anywhere for a while, the venom seems to have taken a lot out of me." He started smiling, "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

She had to mentally change gears before responding, "I don't think so... Why?"

He smiled wider, "I think you should."

"If you insist. I'll be right back, don't go anywhere," she said walking up the stairs. I wonder why he wants me to look in a mirror? Ditzy thought she heard him say something along the lines of, "I think you'll be longer than that," but she wasn't sure.

She walked to her bathroom and looked into her reflection. What looked back at her was not a pretty sight. Ditzy's mane was tangled and messy, with hairs sticking in all directions. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying herself to sleep and she had a line of dried drool on her chin. On top of all that she still had dried blood from yesterdays face plant on her forehead and cheeks. Oh... While Ditzy was not one to obsess over her appearance this was a bit extreme for anypony. She buried her head in her hooves, "Nothing ever works out for me," she moaned. "What is he going to think of me now?" she said, getting into her shower. He is a previously undiscovered sentient species and by some unfortunate stroke of luck, I am the role model for all of pony kind until Twilight gets back. "Why me?" she said sadly.

---

Ditzy finished her shower and made herself presentable before quickly running back down the stairs. "Pretend you didn't see that," she said after entering the living room.

"See what?" he asked, looking over at her.

She smiled gratefully, but before she could say anything he started talking again.

"You mean how horrible you looked before you went upstairs? And how bad your mane was, and how it looked like you had just got out of bed? The drool was a nice touch too."

Ditzy's smile faded and she started blushing slightly. I can't believe he saw me like that... Wait a second... Saw? "I thought you were blind," she said, pointing an accusing hoof at him.

"I think I'm recovering, but I still can't really see anything clearly and my vision is all blurry. The funny thing is, my eyes are burning like hell even though they weren't yesterday. Maybe I am resistant, or maybe the venom only blinds you for a day, and then burns for the rest of your life. I don't know and I don't understand it, but then again there's not much that's going on that I do understand. I'm I just going to sit here and be happy that it wasn't permanent," he said.

"That's... nice. How is your leg feeling? Do you need anything?" she asked him. Why couldn't his eyes have been feeling better yesterday, then I wouldn't have had to fix his leg up. Why does the universe hate me?

"My leg is feeling as good as can be expected. Although, I could really go for some food right now," he said licking his lips.

"I'll see what I can do about some lunch," she said walking into her kitchen. I'm really glad I don't have to do anything with his leg again, I don't think I could have kept my insides inside.

---

Eighteen muffins later. I really don't know where he's putting them. Alexander was finally showing signs of stopping after his nineteenth muffin.

"Ahhhhhhhhh..." he sighed. "Delicious. My compliments to the chef."

She looked sadly at the muffin wrappers lying everywhere. That was supposed to last me for two weeks... Now what am I going to have for lunch? I guess I'll have to make some more soon.

"I should be able to limp by tomorrow, so I'll be out of your hair... mane, whatever."

"What!? You're going to try and walk on that tomorrow? You're even crazier than I thought," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. I hope Twilight gets here before he tries to leave.

"On the contrary, I am much more crazy than you think, I'm just very good at hiding it," he said with an unnerving glint in his eye.

He's scary when he does that, Ditzy thought, stepping backward. "So... where are you from?" asked Ditzy, trying to dispel the awkwardness.

Alexander got a faraway look in he eyes, "I'm not from here and I don't belong here. That's all you need to know."

"What kind of answer is that?" Ditzy asked, even more confused than before she had asked him the question.

"The only kind you're getting," he replied.

"But if-"

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Who could that be? "I'll be right back," she told Alexander. Ditzy walked over to her front door and opened it.

"How are you doing today?" asked Merry Sunshine. Oh, no. I forgot she was coming over after work. This could end badly... "Well aren't you going to invite me in for dinner?" she asked.

"This is kind of a bad time..." said Ditzy, trying her best to not sound awkward.

"Oh really? Does it have anything to do with the second voice I heard?" Merry asked.

"Nooooo..." said Ditzy, shuffling her hooves nervously.

"The sta-lli-on's voice I heard?" she said, smiling mischievously. "You simply have got to introduce me."

"No, no. Nothing like that. Nothing to see here. I just... something came up and I have to cancel," said Ditzy.

"Is he cute?" she asked, still smiling. "Did I interrupt anything? You told me you didn't have a coltfriend."

"I told you, there aren't any stallions in here," said Ditzy, blushing slightly. Well not strictly speaking anyway...

"Well if you're too shy to introduce me to your coltfriend, I'll just have to introduce myself," said Merry, gently pushing past Ditzy. Uh-oh. "Hello my name is... Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" screamed Merry. Ditzy closed her front door and smacked her forehead against it. Repeatedly.

Author's Note:

I noticed I haven't posted any random music from my "Story Writing Playlist" in a while. Does anyone want me to keep doing that?

Comments

[spetsnaz pinkie pie]

Funny.

[PickleSurprise]

Ha, poor Ditzy. Never catching a break.

[Sethi]

It's just me or is Ditzy smacking her head out of frustration cute as hell?

[Xzaves]

3249308 Oh, I thought she was hurting that Merry pony...I'm happy that's not what's happening

[Sethi]

3250305 Derpy wouldn't hurt somepony... only by crashing, but that doesnt count

[Stone Cold Steve Buscemi]

Im like Ditzy when I wake up just don't do anything just get dressed out the door.