Just Another Delivery

by Sorren

Rating: everyone
Tags: Derpy Hooves, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Random, Adventure
Length: 5487

Ditzy is just about the best mailmare in Equestria, but nothing can prepare her for what's to come.

Ditzy Doo is just about the best mailmare in Equestria, but nothing can prepare her for what is to come.

Published 2012-11-20 16:00:02 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-20 16:00:02 UTC

Just Another Delivery

Ditzy Doo was having a particularly average day. It was the sort of average that would make a pony wish for anything exciting to happen, and the extremities of the word, “anything,” extended quite far. The gray pegasus flew absently over the city of Canterlot, a heavy package weighing down her left saddlebag, forcing her to fly at a slight angle to avoid falling off balance.

To her luck, her eyes were having a good day and she was able to see into the distance if she focussed hard enough. It was a slightly chilly afternoon, accompanied by a cloudless sky. She welcomed the warmth of the sun on her back and wings, wishing for nothing more than to find a place rest and let it warm her. But today, she could not rest, could not lay down for a nap. The contents of her package were very important, and needed to reach the correct destination as soon as possible.

The pouch of bits in her right saddlebag constantly reminded her of just how important this particular package was. It had been given to her by a masked pony in an alley, who had neither spoke nor shown their face. With the package, had been left a note with written orders from the Princess herself.

She was not always called upon to handle jobs such as these. This could easily be her big chance. If she delivered this package swiftly and efficiently, ponies might finally see how useful she really was.

She tensed. Something wasn’t right. A tingle filled her wings and she tossed her head about, searching for the source of her superstition. “It’s nothing, Ditzy,” she reassured herself. “Just get to the destination.” It had been a long flight, but she was almost there now. The city of Canterlot was below, and the particular building she was looking for could be seen just a ways through the mist, it’s gold roof gleaming.

‘That’s funny,’ she thought. ‘When did the mist settle in?’ With a gasp, she realized this was why she was on edge. They were staging their attack now!

Quick as a whip, Ditzy folded her wings and dropped, right as two black shapes shot at her overhead. They collided with one another with a comical bonk, and fell away, disappearing into the mist.

Ditzy could no longer see anything. Thick white swirled all around her, lowering her vision to that of no more than a few feet. This definitely was not normal. She stopped the steady beat of her wings to listen. Off in the mist, she could hear more sets of wings and the whir of some sort of contraption. They were on her all right, and they weren't going to play nice.

“Where are you at?” she whispered to herself, thinking. Her eyes darted around both ways, looking for any signs of movement. Her left eye (the one pointing up) picked up a blur of movement above her and she was able to dodge a second before a weighted net shot by her. It whooshed by, catching the corner of her ear and disappearing below. “Ha!” she jeered. “Missed me.”

There was a metallic click to the left and her pupils shrank. “Uhoh.” She jerked up as another net shot by, this one a little further away. A pegasus flew at her from directly ahead, dressed in a tight, black, full-body suit. She dropped down and rolled in the air to drive all four of her hooves into the pony’s stomach. There was a grunt from above her and she threw the stunned shape away. Another tried to flank her from behind but a strong hoof to the nose turned it back.

It was too dangerous here; she had to dive. Ditzy folded her wings and made a streamline for the ground, knowing that they were right on her tail. She weaved left around a hot-air balloon and hopped off the top of another. There was a sudden staccato of bangs behind her and Ditzy ducked in time for several globs of blue goop to whiz over her head.

Now, things were serious. Another balloon came into view just ahead, but instead of dodging, she flew straight for the basket.

The suited stallion manning the mounted cannon swiveled the barrel of the weapon towards her and fired. Ditzy swirled and another glob of blue shot past her. These were marksponies--she had to be careful. One wrong move and she’d find her wings knotted up in a gooey mess.

The pony in the basket jumped back and pulled a sword from the sheath on his back, reading for her advance. Ditzy accepted the challenge, but drew no weapon of her own. She charged and he raised the blade for a stunning strike. She feigned left, then right and pounced. He swung but she ducked out of the way and landed in the basket right beside him.

“Nice day, isn’t it?” she ducked again as the blade whipped by, sparking off the chains supporting the basket. Her drifting eye picked out more of them advancing on her. She had better make this fast.

Twice more she dodged his swings, making her way to the cannon mounted to the basket. The pony gave a mighty swing and lost his balance and was forced to look away to regain it. When he turned back, he found himself looking cross eyed down the barrel of a goo cannon.

Ditzy gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry.” The cannon bucked and the blue shot struck him clean in the face like a wet diaper. He lost balance and fell backwards, out of the basket. Ditzy turned the cannon and nailed the operator of the other balloon. She then turned the sticky cannon on the six ponies flying at her in formation, a wide smile on her face.

Rule number one: never, ever let Ditzy Doo anywhere near a weapon.

The ponies broke formation like a scared flock of geese as blue fire hurled at them. The first one didn’t dodge fast enough and found his left wing stuck to his side. He began to fall, beating his one free wing frantically but only managing to spin in a circle. Ditzy could almost imagine cheesy action music playing as she gunned at the other five, making them dodge and weave like acrobats.

From somewhere ahead in the mist came the intimidating hiss of a steam engine. A second later, a jury-rigged plane shot out of the clouds in a trail of steam, spraying searing fire from the left wing. Ditzy ducked as the flame engulfed her basket, singing her mane and burning her lungs. She waited for the aircraft to pass, then peeked up. The balloon above was on fire and deflating like a burst party balloon.

More of the goons were closing in on her too, arming net guns or flamethrowers. There was no escape below and no way to go up either, not past the burning balloon. There was one option, but it was a crazy one. Frantically, she yanked the ring securing the chain to the basket and was pitched to one side. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the last two and the basked dropped free. The air lit up as flamethrowers let loose and set her basket aflame, but she ducked down near the floor as it dropped, staying safe from the singing fire.

Now there was a new problem--her shelter was now a big fireball, and soon she would be part of that fireball. No longer able to stand the heat, she pushed up from the floor and beat her wings, leaving the falling and burning basket behind.

“This,” she panted. “This is a little beyond normal.”

The mist cleared just long enough for her to catch a glimpse of golden roof. She was close now. Soon it would all be finished. But something wasn’t right--she had gotten off too easy so far. As her thoughts had conjured it, a net whizzed out of the mist and wrapped itself around her hind legs. Ditzy tried to kick it off, but it had tangled in her hooves. Grudgingly, she turned over in the air as she drifted towards the ground, knowing she was an exposed target in this position. A moment of struggle later, she freed the net from her hooves.

Now they were around her. Every way she looked, black shapes moved at her out of the mist, sporting weapons of all different size and shape. One held a glowing device that resembled a cannon, but was much smaller. Others had electric swords or net guns. There were clubs and flamethrowers amongst them too.

“Sent your whole army this time, did you!?” Ditzy screamed, spinning in a vigilante circle to make sure nothing tried to sneak up on a blind side.

“But of course, Ditzy, Doo,” came a silky, feminine voice, seemingly from all angles.

“What is it this time?” she asked, rolling one of her eyes in exasperation.

A pony clad in black armor floated through a throng of her armed assassins, large wings flapping gracefully. “That package in your position is of the utmost importance to us. The pony who is paying for the delivery does not realize what they have. They will not know how to handle it. If, placed in the right hooves, it can be used.”

Ditzy placed a hoof on the package in her saddlebag. “I don’t believe you.” She scowled, but her scowl had never been very intimidating. She looked up. All she had to do was keep them occupied long enough.

The pony in the sleek armor laughed. “Think about it, Ditzy Do. Is it really worth it, all of this?” She beckoned to the troops surrounding the gray pegasus. “We could be allies, you and I. We could form a team and push all other delivery companies out of business. We could be the best delivery company in Equestria!”

“Sorry,” she spat, “But I’m not interested in joining your monopoly. What you do is wrong. You don’t offer bulk discounts. You don’t let ponies have any late package requests. You don’t even offer a late delivery discount and a free coupon!”

The mare laughed oily. “Listen to yourself, silly pony. There is no money to be made there. You are simply giving profit away for...” She shuddered. “Customer happiness.”

Ditzy threw her hooves out, casting another desperate glance upwards, waiting. “Don’t you see. It isn’t about the money; it’s about getting the package there safe, and at a reliable price.” She got a cheeky idea. “Besides, Trace, It looks like your package is going to be late.”

The armored pony frowned at Ditzy. “What are you talking about?” She followed Ditzy’s hoof, which was pointing up. From above, a burning balloon plummeted towards her. She and her troops scattered, dodging every which was as the balloon plowed through their ranks. Ditzy used her moment’s distraction to plunge. The next moment was a frantic scramble of fire and screaming projectiles as Ditzy dived, hooves held out in front of her like some sort of mock-superhero. The wind whipped her mane and assaulted her eyes, causing them to water, but she blinked away the tears and kept her eyes focussed ahead, searching for anything.

No matter her attempts to keep vigilant, she still wasn’t ready for the Canterlot street that came rushing at her out of the mist. She lifted her ascent, flaring her wings out to catch the wind in a desperate attempt to slow herself. Lucky enough for her, there was a nice soft wagon to break her fall. She hit the wagon like a stone out of a slingshot and crashed painfully to the wooden deck in a splash of red mush.

“Ugh.” She lifted herself wearily, licking a glob of amber mush off her face. It only took her a moment to realize she had landed in a cart filled with apple pies.

A green, mustached stallion looked back at her from the harness, mouth comically agape. “Look at a-what you a-did!” he cried in a high-pitched, singsong voice. “You-a broke a-my pies!”

She smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” A glob of blue paste smooshed to the ground to her right and she was reminded of the current situation. “Look,” she said, switching to business, “I need you to get me to that building with the gold roof.” She pointed towards the building in the distance, which for some reason, wasn’t surrounded by mist.

“Now-a just hold on a-one-o minute!” the pony cried stomping a hoof. “You just-a broke a-fifty bit’s worth a-my pies!”

“I’ll pay you for them once we get there!” She looked around frantically. They would be here any second. “I need you to get me there, and fast! Please, I’ll pay you extra!”

His eyes lit up. “Okey-dokey!” The pony reared up and bolted, jerking the wagon forward. Ditzy took the short break to wipe the sweat from her brow and brush the pie crusts out of her mane. “I’m too cute for this,” she breathed with exasperation.

“Gotchia!” Cried a ninja pony, jumping at her from the curb. She ducked, but the pony’s hoof still struck her shoulder and it hurt like mad.

“Missed!” she yelled back. “Sort of.” She moaned as the pony did a triple frontflip and took chase on the wagon. Improvising, she picked up a stray pie and threw it. The ninja pony dodged it and the pie splatted uselessly to the ground.

“Hey!” cried the wagon puller. “That’s-a going to cost-a you three bits!”

“Fine,” she replied, picking up another pie to throw it.

“Six!” he yelled.

Ditzy growled, hucking three more pies at the ninja pony, who dodged easily. “Stop dodging!” she yelled as the pony pulling the wagon continued to tally prices. She got lucky, feigning to throw left but then throwing it right at the pony. He never tried to dodge and took an apple pie right to the face. The pony flopped comically forward and faceplanted, sliding a good ten feet across the cobbled stone.

Despite the fact that the stallion had been trying to hurt her, she couldn’t hold back a sharp breath at his expense.

“Oh no!” came the high-pitched voice of the pony pulling the wagon. “They’re-a blocking the road!”

“What?” Ditzy turned around, squinting slightly. “Oh...” Her jaw dropped and she blinked to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Ten of them... ten of Trace’s elite stood baring their path. The ten ninja ponies stood in formation between the wagon and the golden-roofed building. Not now. She was so close! The front steps were no more than two blocks away. Celestia banish her to the moon shall they stop her now, after all of this.

“Run through them,” she said determinedly.

The stallion looked at her like she were mad. “Are-a you insane!? They’ll a-cut us to ribbons!”

“I’ll throw in thirty extra bits.”

His eyes practically turned into dollar signs. “Deal!” He put on an extra burst of speed, charging the elite ponies with an excited smile. Ditzy scooped up two more pies and threw them ahead, trying to break their ranks. One splattered uselessly to the ground at their hooves, but the other nailed the middle pony in the face.

The pony didn’t even flinch. Ditzy gaped. Nopony could stand up to a pie right to the face. Even a buffalo couldn’t withstand a well-made apple pie to the face. The ninja pony gave his head the tiniest of shakes and the pie fell away to plop to the ground.

There was a gasp of horror from the pony pulling the wagon. “He-a don’t like-a my pie.” Fire burned in the pony’s eyes. “He-a don’t like-a my pie!” Ditzy was forced to cover her ears at his scream of rage. The wagon jolted forward and she nearly fell from the back deck as the pony charged the ninja like a raging bull. “I-a spent all a day long a-making those pies and you DARE, a-have-a the disrespect, to-a not at least-a taste a-my pie!”

The ninja pony must have realized his fault, for he broke his stance early and raised his hooves defensively. Wagon pony hit the ninja like a brick wall and plowed him over. There was a heavy thump as the wheels bumped over the black shape and she fell to get a faceful of pie. The pony was right. How could somepony take one of his pies to the face and not even taste it? This pie was amazing. She licked up a few more bites and then jumped to her hooves, alert once more.

“You will go no further!” Cried a ninja mare, jumping onto the back platform of the wagon.

“Mumfff ack mumff hmf!” Derpy yelled. She swallowed the pie in her mouth. “You won’t stop me!” The ninja pony jumped at her and she flared her wings, catching the wind. She was lifted from the wagon deck by the strong air and the pony shot right below her to crash into the back of the wagon. Ditzy dropped and wrapped her hooves around the ninja to throw her off the wagon.

“Yeah!” Ditzy cheered as the mare bowled over a fruit stand. “Feel the grapes of wrath!” She dropped her hoof into her face. “Note to self, come up with better puns.”

She was thrown to the wagon bed at a blow to the side of her head. Her world spun for a moment before she shook away the circling cuckoo birds and bounced back to her hooves. A ninja flew at her with a flying kick and she deflected it easily, tumbling the pony away with a single hoof. Two more charged, organizing their assault. Ditzy sprang over them both and grabbed both of their heads before bonking them together with an almost comical air.

Next, a pony charged at her swinging a pair of nunchucks wildly. She backed up, looking for means of defense. The pony lunged and the nunchucks spun around and smacked him in the side of the head. “Ouch!” he cried falling to his knees. “Ooooouch.” He grasped his head and tumbled off the back of the wagon.

Ditzy allowed herself a calming breath. “Well that wasn’t so bad.” There was a sudden, loud crack from the right side of the wagon and she gulped. Of course, she had spoken too soon. The whole wagon pitched left as the wheel shattered. Ditzy’s hooves slipped out from under her and she went down, head smacking the wagon deck painfully. A pie landed on her head and burst, covering her with the sweet-sticky cinnamon apples.

The pony pulling the wagon lost control, fighting against the weight of the wagon as the shattered wheel drug the right end around. His hoofing slipped and the pony went down in the bridle. The right end of the wagon spun around and caught the hard edge of the cobbled street. The right wheel shattered and the entire wagon pitched into the air, sending pies into the air like mortar rounds, Ditzy included.

She managed to flare her wings to slow herself enough to not break anything on the landing. She still hit rather hard, the impact jarring her head and knocking the breath from her lungs. A pie splattered down beside her, then another, and another.

The wagon pony pulled himself from the bridle of the upturned wagon and looked up, eyes welling up with tears. “No,” he said, not believing, mustache twitching slightly. “What did I a-do to deserve a-this!?” he screamed to the sky, waving his hooves in the air. “All-a the pies, ruined!”

Ditzy felt horrible. She had done this to him. Despite the current urgency of the situation, she pushed shakily to her hooves and started towards the stallion. Pies still rained around them like the debris after a blast, splatting to the ground and spreading their sweetness across the hard stone.

He looked up as she neared and wiped the tears from his eyes. “Why did you-a do this to me?”

She folded her ears and hung her head. “Sorry.” Reaching back, she produced the generous sack of bits from her saddlebag and set it down in front of them. “I’m sorry. Here, you should have this. It should cover all the damages, and maybe a little more.”

He smiled through the tears and winced as a pie landed to earth beside him. “Thank you.” She turned to leave, flaring her wings. “Wait,” he called, freezing her. “Could I-a get your name?”

She looked back at him. “Ditzy Doo.” She beat her wings and was off, shooting down the street. The building was just ahead now. She was so close. Just one more block and she’d be done. This delivery would earn her no pay, unless the pony on the receiving end decided to tip. All her pay had gone to the pony with the pies. He deserved every bit of it too, for how far he had gotten her and how much he had sacrificed to help her.

“Goodbye a-Ditzy Doo!” he yelled from behind her, his voice fading into the distance. “Come an-a get a pie-a sometime!”

Right when she was sure nothing else could stop her, the most predictable happened, something blocked her path. The pony in the sleek, black armor flared her wings, blocking Ditzy’s path. “You will go no further!” she bellowed in a voice worthy of that to Luna herself.

Ditzy didn’t slow. She couldn’t stop now that she was so close. Lowering her head, she charged. “I will not fall, Trace!” Her head rammed Trace’s breastplate, which felt about the same as heabutting a brick wall. Despite the pain of the impact, her momentum managed to knock the armored pony backward and both mares crashed to the ground.

Ditzy sat up and shook her head, wincing. If she hit her head any harder she was going to end up knocking her eyes into focus.

Trace picked herself up and shoved Ditzy onto her back to stand triumphantly over the gray pegasus. “Your time is up, Derpy!”

Ditzy growled and kicked out with her hind legs, planting them firmly in Trace’s armored underbelly. With a mighty heave, she managed to throw the pony off her and jump to her hooves. “You’ll never stop me!” She bolted, sprinting as fast as her hooves would carry.

Trace sprang back to her hooves like she wasn’t wearing her weight in armor and gave chase. “Stop that mare!” she bellowed, making use of her long stride to gain on the fleeing pegasus.

Ditzy felt something inside of her switch on as four more ninjas charged out into the street. There was a disadvantage, then there was unfair. This... this was an unfair disadvantage. With no other option, she charged.

The first one jumped at her with a flying kick, but she dropped and skidded under the pony, planting a forehoof on the ninja’s belly and throwing him off balance. The other dropped low the the ground for a low attack. Ditzy jumped and planted her hooves on its head. Pushing off strongly, she shot herself into the air. More of the black-suited ponies were swarming into the street now, too many to count.

Ditzy tucked her legs in and rolled in the air, dodging a weighted net that had been shot at her. She extended to full length again and came down clean on the head of a ninja. With lightning speed, she pulled the staff from his grasp and clasped it in her hooves. Doing a triple backflip, she sprang away from the stunned ninja and used the confiscated staff as a pole-vault to lengthen her jump.

She landed heavily on the cobblestone. Staff clenched in her jaws, she stood on three hooves, the third raised a little in front of her in a gesture of challenge. They had her surrounded. The ninja ponies had formed a full circle around her, all standing firm with their eyes determined, stance wide, ready to counter her any move.

Ditzy took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes. This was it. She reared up on her hind legs and pulled the staff from her mouth. With a cry of rage, she lunged forward, swinging the wooden staff horizontally.

The chaos began.

Two ran at her from the back but she spun and clogged them both across the head with the staff. They both went down like wet towels. A mare bellowed a battle cry and magically drew two electric blades from a sheath on either leg. Ditzy dodged low and the mare rocketed by, slashing the the blades at her. The pegasus spun in time to face the mare as she was charging back. Ditzy lowered the staff and shoved the end into the mares breast, then jammed the other into a crack in the cobblestone. The ninja mare’s momentum carried her forward and she was lifted into the air like a filly on a teeter-totter. Ditzy grabbed the end of the staff near the ground and threw it up sending the mare flying. Pulling the staff back down just in time, she blocked the downward slash of a stallion’s club. Her staff cracked in two under the impact, but held together.

“Nice try,” she panted, short of breath. She bent her staff the rest of the way, splintering the treated wood before tearing it in two. With her left eye looking right, and her right eye looking left, she swung the two halves of the staff madly, fighting back six ninja ponies as they tried to advance on her. One managed to get inside the radius of the deadly sticks, but she delivered a heavy kick the the head that knocked the pony senseless. There was a drawn out scream and the mare she had launched landed to earth, flattening two of her companions.

“From the D,” she cheered, hurling one end of the staff and managing to knock two ponies back. “To the E.” She sidestepped two ponies who had been racing at her, watching them butt heads. “To the R-P-Y” She saw her chance and took it. Flaring her wings, she rocketed forward and shot the gap one of the ninja’s had left open. “You can’t catch me!” The ones still standing tried to block her escape, but she defected them with the other half of the staff. The spent wood finally gave, splitting up the middle and now proving useless. She tossed the two useless shards of wood aside and pushed what little energy she had left into her legs. “I’m Derpy,” she whispered.

She was free! Under the chaos she had rained, she had managed to escape. By the time the remaining ten or so conscious ponies had realized she was gone, she had put a good thirty feet on them.

The steps to the gold-roofed building were just ahead now. That’s all she had left, up the steps to the meeting place. A spear stabbed itself into the ground beside her and she jumped away with a little eep.

They had gone too far now. That spear could have literally killed her. Whatever was in the package she was carrying right now must be more important than she knew. If a pony were willing to sacrifice the life of another just to obtain it... Ditzy didn’t want to know what was in the package.

Ditzy had been hoping she had seen the last of Trace, but sadly, they were nothing more than that, just hopes. The armored pony dropped out of the sky to land beside ditzy, armor clanking on impact with the ground.

“You can’t just give it up!” she growled, panting slightly as she ran beside the gray pegasus.

Ditzy shook her head frantically. “Never!”

“Look at what you’re causing!” she snapped.

“Then call off your minions!” Ditzy ducked as Trace swung a hoof at her. The movement cost the armored pony momentum, and she dropped back a foot.

“Curse you!”

Ditzy hopped over a tripline pulled across the road and positively lolloped as she neared the steps. A straying ninja tried to herd her sideways, but she easily dismissed the black-suited mare with a look. She had earned her respect as one bad-flank mailmare.

She took the steps, and trace slowed to a halt at their beginning. “Ha!” Ditzy declared, sauntering up the stone. “Nice try!”

It was like every scene from every storybook she had ever read as she ascended those marble steps. Confetti cannons burst and trumpets blared. Princess Celestia herself waited for her, her colorful mane rippling in the non-existent breeze.

“I see you’ve arrived safely,” she said with a smile. “Do you have it?”

Ditzy cracked a wide grin, panting. “Sure do.” She reached back in her saddlebag and pulled out the rectangular, wooden box, to set it before the princess. “It is my honor.”

“Oh how sappy,” Trace leered from a distance, all of the original vigor out of the mare’s voice.

Celestia glared at the armored pony. “Trace... I should have known you would have caused all this trouble.”

Although nopony could see the mare’s face, Derpy guessed Trace had rolled her eyes. “You know me, Celest, always a big ball of fun.”

Celestia fumed. “You’re lucky I have been refraining from sending things to the moon recently.” She turned back to Ditzy with a smile. “Ditzy Doo, you have done Equestria a great service.” She levitated up the box and undid the clasp on the front. Her eyes sparkled as the lid opened.

Ditzy’s eyes grew wide as the thing inside began to levitate upwards. Even Trace seemed enthralled once more. Ditzy grinned widely as the thing in the box revealed itself. It was the most amazing, wonderful, eye-drawing... piece of cake she had ever seen?

“Bwah... what?” she asked.

Celestia took a bite of the cake and looked down at her. “Whath?”

“Are you bucking kidding me!?” Trace screamed, stomping her hooves. “That’s what was in the box!?”

Celestia nodded once, her expression of misunderstanding unwavering. “Yeah?”

Ditzy raised her voice, anger taking over her body. “Are you telling me that I fought my way across Canterlot with ninja ponies trying to kill me, just to get you a slice of cake!?”

“Yeah!” Trace added. “Are you telling me I chased her across Canterlot just for a slice of cake!?”

Ditzy pointed angrily to a cake shop just across the street. “What about that cake!?”

Celestia blinked. “I didn’t want that cake.” She took another bite. “I wanted this cake.”

* * *

“Well that was a whole lot of nothing...” Ditzy kicked at the ground. She under a tree in the city park, her head hung and ears folded. “I thought I would finally get to be something.” She sniffed. “It was just cake.”

“You okay?” a gentle voice asked.

Ditzy looked up into the eyes of a dark-blue mare, her amber eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Her shoulder-length mane hung, slightly tousled, around her neck and head.

“Ditzy sniffed. “Yeah... I just had a bad day.”

The mare turned and sat beside Derpy. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, for everything.”

Dity blinked. “Do I know you.”

The mare smiled genuinely. “I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I’m Trace.”

Ditzy didn’t know whether to glare or smile. “I’ve never seen you without your armor before.”

Trace shrugged. “Well, now you have. Anyways, I just wanted to say, I’m sorry for all the hassle I gave you, especially when it turned out to be a slice of cake.” She muttered something indignant under her breath. “Anyways, I just wanted to congratulate you on an amazing job. Not just anypony can beat those ninjas. She massaged a spot on her breast and winced. “Ouch.”

Ditzy rolled her eyes. “Thanks, I guess.”

Trace nudged her. “Come on, cheer up a bit.” She got a little half-grin about her. “I just wanted to say that you’re pretty great. I’ve never met a pony with determination like you.”

Ditzy allowed herself a smile. “Really?”

“Really.”

She grinned. “Well, thanks, Trace.”

The mare smiled back. “So, what do you say?” She held out her hoof. “Friends?”

Ditzy though for a second before sticking out her hoof. “Friends.” The two shook, and Ditzy couldn’t help but smile as the sadness was pushed to the back of her mind.

Trace kicked the ground. “So, do you want to go get something to eat, or something?”

Ditzy picked up the glint in the mare’s eye. “Sure.” She stood up. “Any ideas?”

Trace pushed to her hooves, her sleek coat catching the sun. “Anywhere’s fine.”

Ditzy couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, despite the day’s events. “Well, I know a pony who makes some amazing pies.”