//------------------------------// // C-130 rollin down the strip // Story: Mean and Green // by Gallants //------------------------------// Pinkie walked down the street deep in thought, the doctor was suddenly rushed out of his office by the nurse and she was sent home. And of course, you had this filly 'and the doozy pinkie sense ended when I found her what was that all about,' Pinkie thought to herself with a roll of her eyes and head. She continued her musings as she entered Sugar Cube Corner. "Pinkie dear where have you been?" Mrs. Cake asked worriedly looking at her employee and tenet. "So, I was doing my Saturday HIT and four-mile run, you know to burn off all of the sweets and then I felt like a doozy was coming up," Pinkie started, "and then I saw these bubbles coming from the lake and I thought 'that's really weird, the fish should be upstream' so I looked closer and there was this filly laying at the bottom, so I dived in and pulled her up and then took her to the hospital, and her saddlebags were really heavy like someone filled them up with metal," When Pinkies words finally registered with Mrs. Cake her eyes widened, "Well the doctor came out a little while later and told me that's she's going to be fine, just a few injuries here and there, also when I found her the doozy stopped." with Pinkies last words on the subject, she headed up to her room leaving a confused, relieved Mrs. Cake. Redheart ran down the halls in a panic, searching for the filly. Turning the corner, she dug into the dirty clothes hoping the filly would be found within, when no tufts of blue coat nor black and pink mane her breathes became ragged, "Oh no, no, no," she murmured, nearly tearing the hospital apart. Lilly moved quietly, her small body maneuvering where she could as the bang of a pipe resounded around her, "Lilly where are you?" her father's voice bounced off the walls, biting her lip to keep quiet she shrunk down, and listened to her father's footsteps as they passed her, she patiently waited for a few minutes before deciding to move again. "You've failed again, you know what that means," her father said grabbing her arm and lifting her. "Enfield, it's Nurse Redheart, I'd really like it if you went back to bed," Redheart said when she finally found her in the boiler room, placing her hoof on the fillies shoulder she recoiled as the filly began to scream. "No dad, please I don't want to go back," she sobbed as she crawled away from Redheart, "I can do better, I just need another chance," she begged pushing herself into a corner, Redheart took a seat and simply waited for the filly to tire herself out. "Enfield, you can't run away like that," Redheart told the filly as she tucked her in, "I know it's scary, but if you help us, we can help you," She told her in an attempt to console her, "If you tell us what your father has done we can protect you," the filly grimaced at her words. "I don't need protection," Lilly stated, shifting onto her side, "He died a long time ago, and I'm happy, didn't even go to the funeral, I volunteered to stay in the field," she told her, Redheart took a step back not sure how to process what she heard. Taking her leave she looked at her fellow nurse as she passed by, "Sour Grapes mind keeping an eye on her while I request a social worker?" she asked, Nurse Grapes, nodded her head and stepped into the filly's room. Redheart took her break and made her way to the post office, pulling out the necessary bits she paid for a dragonfire letter to be sent. Stepping back into the hospital she clocked back in and made her way to room 311. "Hello, I'm sorry for running, I had a moment of weakness," Lilly stated as Redheart rounded the corner, Sour Grapes smiled at Redheart and left the room giving a goodbye to the filly, "Being blinded as I am brought up some bad memories," her voice wavered slightly. "It's okay Enfield, I understand, Nurse Grapes seems to like you," Redheart told Enfield, "She doesn't like a lot of ponies," Redheart took note of the frown that built on her face as she flexed the wings on her back, "But she makes it very obvious if she doesn't like you so don't you worry," Enfield's frown didn't change. "I forgot-" Enfield started before cutting herself off, "I forgot she was busy with other patients, tell her I'm sorry," Redheart patted her shoulder, before stepping out to continue her rounds. The next week was slow, the Social worker did what she could, but Enfield wasn't very forthcoming with information just some mentions about a squad in the desert, The RCB couldn't find any missing fillies that matched Enfield's description or name, they even sent out agents to make sure none were missing. After they finished there they tried checking in with E.U.P elements that operated in the desert, no luck there either. Slowly they removed the wrappings around Enfield's eyes, "Now we're going to slowly brighten the lights so you can adjust," Redheart told her as the last of the gauze was removed, "Now open your eyes so we can start," she said, slowly Enfield's eyes opened Redheart was taken aback by the two different colors she had, "I didn't know you had heterochromia, I mean two different colored eyes," she stated, taking stock of her confused features as they began to turn the lights up. "I don't, both of my eyes are blue," Lilly said. "I'll check with some optometrists, for magic-based eye color change," Redheart told the filly while checking her eyes for signs of infection, "and it looks like you're all healthy, we just need to see what Sunny Meadows has to say then we can get you homed," she told her with a smile. Lilly was allowed to use the bathroom herself when her eyes finished adjusting and she stared into the mirror, "I guess it makes sense my right eye is red," she mumbled admiring her new red and brass-colored eyes, along with her new hair, "I'm kind of cute," she told herself, spreading her wings she looked herself over, "All right, deep down I'm still mean and green, and maybe I can be a fly girl too," she announced, a little louder than she intended with a wide grin on her face and a flap of her new wings. Stepping out with a strut in her step she noticed her gear on a chair at the end of the table, going over she began picking through it looking for what equipment she still had, She noticed her flashbangs and her m45a1 along with the spare magazine she carried. Looking down at her hooves and back at her sidearm, she frowned, "Son of a bi-" she began before a ball crashed through her window, jumping she dived underneath the chair and covered her head, keeping her legs towards the ball. "YOU FILLIES NEED TO BE CAREFUL!" Redheart yelled out the window, "Are you okay, Enfield?" she asked placing a hoof on the filly, listening to her deep breaths Lilly slowly pushed herself from her cover. "Y-yeah, I'm fine, just got startled is all," Lilly informed her going back to inspecting her gear, she noticed her plate carrier and cammies might actually fit her and her knife was gone, "Weird," she muttered, pulling her coat over her chest before struggling to button it, hearing giggling she looked at Redheart who began to help her button her coat and finish getting dressed, "This is embarrassing," she told Redheart finished pulling the last strap of her plate carrier tight. "Well, sometimes a filly needs help," she told her while looking over her clothes to make sure nothing was out of place, "I thought it was armor and not a saddlebag," Redheart said grabbing her hoof and leading her out of my room, "what kind of armor is it?" she asked the filly "It's a level IV ceramic plate, in a fabric plate carrier," Lilly told her, "Although I'm pretty sure the plate was fractured from my tumble," Lilly said adjusting the fragments in her vest, with a nod Redheart just hummed a cadence that was familiar to the filly as it matched perfectly with the clacking of her helmet as it bounced. "C-130 rolling down the strip," Lilly began to sing, with a smile from Redheart she didn't feel too weird doing so, "Recon daddy gonna take a little trip, stand up, hook up, and shuffle to the door," Lilly head and back straightened, "Jump right out and shout MARINE CORP!" She pulled away from Redheart's hoof and shifted into a march, thinking about how easy this new body was for her, "If my main don't open wide, I got another by my side," she was about to finish when she stepped on a spill having not noticed the wet floor sign, she quickly went sliding down the hall at an alarming speed, flapping her wings in an effort slow down she began to breathe heavily as she hit a mop that had fallen as a janitor jumped out of her way. With a yelp, she went flying landing on a gurney that quickly careened out of control barely missing doctors and nurses as it shakily rumbled down the halls. Her impromptu ride ended when the gurney hit a corner and sent her flying through the air, spreading her wings hoping to not hit the windows at the lobby, her body curved in the air and deposited her into the front desk nurse's lap. "Hello Enfield," Nurse Sour Grape's voice echoed above her. "H-hello Nurse Sour Grapes," Lilly said shaking, struggling to figure out what happened.