//------------------------------// // Chapter 28: Enzo's Night Off (Part 1) // Story: One Shot, One Chance // by SpeederClaw //------------------------------// A musty smell of chemicals wafted into the waiting lobby. One pony sat statue-like without reaction to the passing ponies. Quietness and respite filled in for anxiety and dread. Gray Patch sat with troubling thoughts as he awaited a report from the doctors. “Enzo…” “Mister Gray Patch.” Clyde had reappeared in the waiting lobby. His mustache was propped up with positive energy. “Mister Enzo is doing fine. The doctors say that he will make a full recovery from this terrible incident.” Gray Patch sighed and smiled. “That’s definitely reassuring news.” “Indeed.” Gray Patch stood up, but hesitated to speak. “Clyde, I am sorry, again, for what happened.” “Don’t say it’s your fault, Mister Gray Patch,” Clyde said. “I’ve already taken that responsibility. After all, we’re only ponies after all. It can’t be helped.” “Right, we’re just ponies…” A crash snapped conversation and left both ponies surprised, but understanding. “Where’s Enzo! Is he alright?” Vice bolted past the reception desk towards Clyde and Gray Patch. “He’s still alive, right! That bastard can’t die on me!” “Mister Vice, Mister Enzo is doing well,” Clyde said walking towards Vice. “Good, ‘cuz he better be ready for a big ass hug.” “Erm, Mister Vice, you cannot just waltz in-” “Yeah, uh, sorry. I kinda need to see my goddamn friend!” Vice flew by Clyde and turned corner down the long, emptied hallway. He pushed past medical carts and various doctors as he pursued his friend. Grunting, he entered the familiar room he had visited not so long ago. “Enzo!” “Hey, you are not allowed in here-ah, who let this pony in here?” One of the doctors said. “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you-” Vice put a hoof on the doctor’s shoulder. “Please, gimme a second with my pal.” “Sir-” “Thanks.” Vice pushed past all doctors and came upon Enzo lying peacefully in a white bed. The black stallion was layered in bandages to the side and his red scarf was missing. “Enzo.” “Vice.” Enzo smiled bubbly at Vice’s appearance. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be in here. Are you alright?” “Oh my lord, Enzo. Asking if I’m alright?” Vice sighed. “I’m fine, Vice.” “Yeah, but everything around us isn’t.” Vice leaned in closer. “About the stuff that happened in the forest. I mean, we can’t be quiet forever. But I’m not willing to tell anyone anytime soon. Now we have to get rid of these new jackasses along with that Rivet.” “Vice, we’re telling Clyde, Blitz, Applejack; we’re telling everyone,” Enzo said. Vice’s face twisted into annoyance, but Enzo shook his head. “We can’t stay anonymous like this. Not anymore.” “Bah, we can pull it off,” Vice said shrugging. “I don’t want to though. I want them to know because they deserve to know the truth.” Vice let his head drop and rubbed his face down with his hoof. “Alright, but not now. I don’t need everyone shitting their pants-uh-shitting right now.” “Right.” “MISTER VICE!” Clyde’s muscular physique appeared behind Vice with great intensity. “I know you’re concerned about Mister Enzo, but he needs his rest.” A hoof was placed on Vice’s shoulder. “Let’s go.” Vice nodded and turned to Clyde with open arms. “Alright, bossman, take me away!” He turned back to Enzo. “Get better, bro.” “I will,” Enzo said with a laugh. He watched as the two ponies exited and slumped deeper into his bed sheets. The warmth soothed his cold side; the soft pillow eased his worries. Yet, he still had a bad thought bouncing around his brain. ‘Killer. To be a killer.’ Enzo sighed in pain. ‘What Joltaire said in the forest, about us being killers. He’s wrong. Just because I’ve…done things in the past-no, I can change. I have changed and so has Vice. We’ve both changed and they don’t understand. Hopefully, everyone in Ponyville will.’ ~~~~~~~~~~ The moon cast its luminescence over Enzo’s bed with supporting rays of light. His eyes creaked open with stiffness. “Oh…” He struggled to move any part of his body as serenity and calmness circulated throughout his worn out body. Finally rising, he pushed himself above his bed sheets and stared out the moonlit window. Nighttime had taken over, the darkness loomed above. Two short knocks occurred and Enzo jumped a bit. “Hello? Enzo, it’s us. Blitz and Twilight.” “Oh, um, come in I guess.” The pale, tinted red door slid open and in walked two unicorns. “Enzo, oh my Celestia, are you alright?” Blitz said as he rushed to the earth pony’s side. “I’m fine, Blitz. I think,” Enzo said with a light heart. “We’re sorry if we disturbed your much needed sleep, but Blitz insisted we see you immediately,” Twilight said. “To be honest, I was also worried to the point where I kind of needed to make sure you were in one piece. I’ve never seen sompony hurt this bad before.” Twilight’s voice dropped to low seriousness, but Enzo chuckled to lighten the mood. “I understand, Twilight Sparkle, its fine. You didn’t bother me at all.” “Blitz told me somewhat of what happened. I just want to say that I can’t believe somepony would do that to you. I mean, you seem like a nice pony. I can’t see how you could provoke somepony to do such a thing,” Twilight said. Enzo’s red eyes dropped. “It’s complicated.” “I see. Well, Clyde said he’s on top of this so I won’t bother you anymore about it. Even though I want to,” Twilight said jokingly. “I’m just glad you’re okay. Here, I brought you something.” Blitz reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a nostalgic food item. Enzo’s eyes darkened. “That’s not funny…” “Sorry.” Blitz handed Enzo an AppleBran Bar with a smile. “But, I’m sure you won’t be stealing my things anytime soon. Not saying that because you’re not able to, um-never mind. Sorry.” Enzo accepted with reluctance. “Won’t ever happen again,” he said placing the bar against his chest. “Well, I can’t say that for Vice.” “Oh, and Enzo. I think almost everypony in town is lined up to see you. They’re all worried sick,” Twilight said. “They shouldn’t be. I’m not that hurt, right?” “Enzo, you almost died. Of course everypony is gonna be worried,” Blitz said with surprise. More knocks came from the red door. “I think that’s Applejack right now,” Twilight said. “We better get going then, Blitz. I need to talk to you and Clyde about something.” Blitz nodded and the two waved before leaving. As they left, Applejack and her brother entered sternly. “Enzo, it’s nice tah to see ya again. But, I didn’t expect us to meet like this,” Applejack said. “Eeyup.” “I’m fine guys, really. But, uh, about work-” “We understand yer condition and we’ve decided that ya could use…a break.” Enzo almost let out a chuckle. “I also understand we’ve had a few problems in the past about breaks and all, but this time it’s for real. Ya can have as much time as ya need to recover.” “Thank you, Applejack.” “Eeyup.” “You too, Bic Mac.” “So, uh, how are ya holdin’ up? You feelin’ okay?” Applejack asked. “Well I’m better than about half an hour ago.” Applejack didn’t look amused. “Yes, I’m feeling better.” “That’s good tah hear. Me and Big Mac wish ya a full recovery soon so ya can get back to buckin’ trees. Tah be honest, you’re a natural. Ya even buck harder th’n me and mah brother sometimes!” “Hehe, that’s an overstatement.” The bunch shared laughs and the Apple family waved goodbye before departing. The two left and Enzo found himself in solitude. He gingerly placed the gift from Blitz on a nearby counter and rested his hooves back on his chest. ‘Everyone’s worried because of me. How could I have been so stupid to trust Vice-no, I can’t say that. I now know that they-they followed me here. That information is valuable in its own right. But still, I hate that everyone is worried.’ An image of a yellow mare shifted in Enzo’s mind. “Oh she’s probably worried sick!” Enzo twisted hastily in his bed. ‘Who am I to say that she’ll be worried? I mean, I can’t just assume she’ll be worried just because I talked to her once…but she’s the type to be worried. Gah, no. Wait yes? I don’t know. She shouldn’t care about-” “Hello?” Enzo felt his heart pop as Fluttershy entered the room. “…” “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge in like this. I’ll just go outside-” “Wait!” Enzo’s voice skyrocketed to its highest pitch as he stumbled forward. “Uh, you’re not ruining-I mean-bothering me.” “...” The two stared at each other without saying another word. Silence quickly worsened the awkward situation as Enzo felt himself heating up. “Um, so-uh-” As soon as Enzo opened his mouth, Fluttershy was rushing towards him with tears in her eyes. Her light sobs sank Enzo’s heart deeper and deeper. She had positioned herself up against Enzo’s non-damaged side and simply cried. All Enzo could do was lightly put his hoof on her head and rub her hair. He felt his own eyes tearing up out of sheer pain and despair. ‘Fluttershy…she cares this much about me? She barely knows me; we met over coincidence! I haven’t even tried to…get close to her. Crying over me…I can’t take this!’ “Hey, Fluttershy, um-uh.” Enzo tried desperately to stop the mare’s crying, but words escaped his still shocked soul. “Stop it, you’re gonna make me cry,” he said laughing nervously. This proved futile as Fluttershy continued to let her tears stain the bed sheets. “Please, you don’t have to cry over me. I’m fi-” Enzo choked on his own words as he felt his cheeks dampen. “No you’re not,” Fluttershy said over her sobs. “You could’ve died!” ‘She’s right.’ Enzo breathed in fresh air of sureness. “You’re right. I could’ve died. But you shouldn’t keep crying over it. I’m here. I’m here and I’m still in one piece.” A sniffle and Fluttershy’s bawling ceased. “That’s better.” “I’m s-sorry. I didn’t mean to have an outburst like that h-here!” Fluttershy said feebly. “I just couldn’t control myself; I had to see you when I heard what happened and I just let myself go.” “Um, hey, it’s alright. Uh-shh you don’t need to freak out anymore.” Enzo masked his regret with a smile ‘Great now she’s gonna think-’ A light bittersweet giggle escaped from her mouth and warmed Enzo’s heart right up. “You’re the one who’s hurt telling me to calm down. I’m such a mess.” Enzo went along and giggled with Fluttershy. “Don’t say things that aren’t true.” He spoke with full intent. “Mmm.” Fluttershy kicked the ground softly. Without hesitation, she wrapped her hooves around Enzo and squeezed gently. Enzo sat still and let the mare embrace him. He slowly lifted his shaking hooves and placed them around Fluttershy’s waist. His breathing increased along with his heart rate. Fluttershy finally let go and grinned. “I hope that helped.” “I-I-uh-I-bah-gah-” Enzo’s stuttering would not stop until he forced his own hooves upon his lips. “I do feel better. Thank you for that.” Fluttershy’s grin turned serious for a moment. “Promise me never to do such a crazy thing like that again.” “I promise,” Enzo said automatically. Fluttershy nodded and waved as she made her way outside the room. Enzo was alone again with his thoughts rising and bouncing back and forth. ‘So she really does care about me even if we’re still strangers. This is crazy.’ Enzo shook his head. ‘No, maybe this is just normal.’ He held a smile, but threw it away once another thought popped up. ‘But that promise.’ He bit his lip. ‘It’s a promise that I don’t know if I can keep. I just agreed to something I might not be able to hold up to.’ Worry and panic seeped back into Enzo’s soothed body. “Knock, knock. Mister Enzo?” ‘Ahh who could it be now? I don’t need someone else crying on me; I wouldn’t be able to handle it!’ “Ah it’s me, Clyde. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” ‘Oh good, Clyde’s not one to-’ “OH MISTER ENZO, MY SORROW FOR YOU IS TOO GREAT! MY ENDLESS DESPAIR HAUNTS MY BODY EVER SO!” ‘Oh.’ “Clyde you don’t have to do this…” Enzo turned away to hide his face. ‘Please don’t do this.’ Clyde eyed Enzo for a second. “My mustache yearns to comfort you, Mister Enzo. AND BY CELESTIA IT’S GOING TO!” ‘I should’ve just fallen asleep… ~~~~~~~~~~ “Enzo? Are you awake?” Enzo’s eyes crept open and found a black figure staring at him with a red eye. ‘Okay I’m sorry this is getting ridiculous.’ “Hello, Gray Patch.” “Yes, hello.” The pristine pony brought up a chair and placed himself elegantly on top. “You’re very strong.” “Thanks.” Enzo sensed intense vibes echoing from the pony’s words. He sifted uncomfortably in bed. “Are you sorry I sent you into the forest?” The words came out like bullets. Enzo contemplated his answer before shaking his head. “No. I’m glad I was able to find out-um, something that happened in the forest.” Gray Patch didn’t break eye contact and stayed silent as a response. “I see. By the way, did you happen to read my letter yet?” Enzo mentally cursed as he forgot everything about the object of interest. “No. I’m sorry.” “That’s quite alright. Just get to it when you can. It will explain everything trust me on that,” Gray Patch said. He reached into his pocket and revealed a slightly crumpled letter. He placed it on the counter next to Enzo. “Well, I tried to make that as brief as possible. I’d better leave you to your rest. I’ll see you around, Enzo.” Gray Patch got up and managed to slide the chair perfectly back into its original spot. He bowed and left. Enzo’s mouth laid wide open. “Where did he-never mind. I should be able to get to it in a few minutes. I just hope that’s the last one I meet tonight. Twilight Sparkle didn’t lie when she said everyone was worried about me.” Enzo reached for the letter and held it in the light. “Who is Gray Patch?” He questioned air before letting out a delayed laugh. “I’m sure everyone else is wondering the same about me.” ‘Fluttershy.’ The embrace was still warm and fresh in Enzo’s mind and body. “I can’t do this to her. Tomorrow I’m telling everyone everything. I can’t keep my secrets…not from her. Vice, I’m sorry. I have to tell the truth. We’ve waited long enough.”