Chapter 2
Accidents Happen
“Hey Ditzy, can you get that storm cloud over there?” Sun Drifter asked as he pointed over to a dark grey cloud.
“Sure thing Sun Drifter.” said Ditzy with a wide smile on her face.
“Be careful with that thing though. No one needs an electrified Ditzy Doo now.”
“I’ll be fine.” Soon after, Sun Drifter hears a buzzing noise quickly followed by an agonizing scream.
“Ditzy!” Sun Drifter spun around faster than he had even spun before only to see a grey mare falling from the sky leaving a trail of smoke.
Sun Drifter flew as fast as he could to catch the rocketing pegasus. With several feet below them and the solid ground of dirt and grass, Sun drifter was able to get under Ditzy to break her fall. When Ditzy landed on Sun, he let out a wrenching cry of pain.
As the scorched mare opened her eyes, all she saw was a blue face covered in tears from fear and pain. “Sun….”
Putting his hoof to her lips Sun told the mare “Quiet Ditzy. Save your strength. I will get you to a doctor.” Sun Drifter arose from the ground and drew out his wings to fly when a sudden wrenching scream left his lips.
“What’s wrong!?” Ditzy whispered in worry as she tried to reaching for him.
Sun Drifter looked at the scorched mare “It’s nothing; I need to get you help now!” drawing his wings back to his sides.
“Sun, your wing is broken!” Ditzy mumbled with the little strength she had.
“It doesn’t matter, you need help.”
“Sun Drifter…..” Sun pulled Ditzy onto his back and a sharp scream broke from his lips as he sped off down the path to the nearest hospital.
It had been three weeks since they met and wasn’t sure how to feel about all this. All Sun Drifter knew is he had to get Ditzy help and get it now.
He carried Ditzy for three hours till they finally made it to the hospital. Ponies along the way tried to figure out what was going on, but he ignored them and continued to run. As they got there, several Stallions and mares in white coats met them outside. “We saw you running up the road and came out to see what was going on. Are you two alright?”
“Ditzy needs help now! She got shocked really badly by a storm cloud!” Sun told the doctors in a panic.
“We will take her from her. What about you? Are you okay?” One of the mares asked, seeing his wing was a bit mangled.
“l will be fine. Help her!”
All Sun could do was sit in the waiting room. The tables had several magazines scattered across them and a single painting of the Canterlot castle was on the wall. There were a few other ponies there. A green unicorn with white slicked back hair and a ring in his hooves looked especially scared. He was shaking and rubbing his ring every other minute. Sun walked over to the distraught pony and sat with him to talk.
“What’s your name?”
The unicorn looked at Sun as a tear fell from his face. “My name is Sleek Mane. What’s it to you?”
“My name is Sun Drifter. I saw you were scared and thought you needed to talk to somepony. Is it something with your wife? That is if you don’t mind me asking that is.”Sun asked while pointing at the ring in Sleek Manes hooves.
“No. My wife passed away three years ago to a heart attack. She had a bad heart you see. I promised that I would protect our daughter, Swift Light. While we were walking, she fell to ground clenching her chest. She had a heart attack. When I got her here, the doctors told me that her condition was hereditary. Now I’m here and about to possibly lose the last thing I have in this world.” Sleek Mane broke down, barely finishing his sentence.
Sun was heartbroken by the Stallion’s story to the point of almost being in tears himself. “Well, I’m sure things will be alright. Keep hope in your daughter. I’m sure she is a strong little filly and will come out of this a-okay!”
Sleek Mane sniffled and looked at the pegasus a bit skeptically but relived, “She is a strong one. Just like her mother. Thank you Sun Drifter, I really needed to hear that. I hope whatever happened to bring you here get resolved soon as well. You’re a great guy for coming to talk to a complete stranger. If only there were more like you.”
“The pleasure is all mine. I love to help out where I can. I gotta go and wait for the doctor now. It was nice to meet you.” Sun said as he returned to where he had previously been waiting.
As he waited, the clock seemed to tick slower and slower. Every minute seemed like forever leaving plenty of time to think about the day. “This entire thing is all my fault. I should have never asked you to get that cloud. How could I be so stupid? She may die because of me. She doesn’t deserve this. I do, I deserve to be in that emergency room. Not you Ditzy.”
After several hours of agonizing waiting, a stallion in a white coat came through the door and headed over to Sun Drifter.
“I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Ditzy with be okay. The bad news is that she will have to stay here for three to four months before she makes a fully recovery. If you hadn’t gotten her here when you did, she may not be around anymore. You’re a hero son. Also, I need to take a look at your wing and run a few x-rays to make sure it will be alright.”
“What room number is she in!?” Sun Drifter exclaimed.
“She is on floor two, room nine. Before you do anything, you need to get your wing fixed up.” The doctor then took the overjoyed pegasus to have his wing treated.
4 Hours Later
“Thank you Doctor. Could you get my friend Blazing Furnace here while I go get something? He is the royal blacksmith. Also, leave this note by Ditzy’s bed.” Sun Drifter requested.
The doctor that had taken care of Sun Drifter looked at him with a gleeful smile. “Oh we certainly will Sun Drifter!”
“Thank you again. I won’t be long. Now off to the bakery.” Sun Drifter turned to the road inspecting his bandages delicately wrapped around his wings as he troughed down the dirt path.
Ditzy Doo woke up and propped herself up in the hospital bed. She was dressed in a sea foam green gown. The confused mare looked around for Sun Drifter, but all she found was a couple magazines on the table and some hospital machines to her left. On her right was a table with a box of tissues and a fold piece of paper covering its surface.
What’s that paper? Said Ditzy as she grabbed then unraveled the page.
The paper said “Dear Ditzy Doo, I left the hospital to go get something important. I will be back as soon as can be so please don’t worry. I promise I will come back. Sincerely yours, Sun Drifter.”
Ditzy slowly set the paper on her lap as she laid there waiting. “I hope Sun is okay. He brought me all the way here to save me. I didn’t think anypony would have done something like that, but he did. His wings looked pretty bad and he beats himself up a lot. I hope he will be here soon. I never thanked him for bringing me to the hospital. I hope he will be able to forgive me for this. I wasn’t very careful and he ended up risking his job, his wings and his health in general. He did all of that to protect me. No pony else has ever risked so much for me. I can’t believe he did all of that for me.”
Sun Drifter entered the bakery Joe’s Doughnuts with much haste, passing the colorful sign over the door. He passed a few ponies on the way to the counter. They were enjoying their afternoon snacks as usual. A lot of ponies come to Joe’s in the afternoons for their treats and bread since he was the only bakery open during the morning and afternoon. Sun walked up to the counter of Joe’s Doughnuts, admiring the freshly baked goods in the display case. “Hey Donut Joe, could I get a dozen blueberry muffins and a dozen oatmeal muffins?
“It would be my pleasure. That will be 20 bits.” Sun Drifter set the bits on the counter while doughnut Joe got the muffins ready.
“Are you alright? Something happen to your wings?” Doughnut asked out of curiosity.
“There was an accident this morning. Everything is alright now. I’ll be on my way now. Have a great day Joe!” Sun Drifter said as he began to make his way to the door with the two dozen muffins.
“Thanks Sun Drifter. Don’t push too hard yourself now. Such a nice guy that one is.” Joe told Sun with a smile.
As Sun Drifter made his way to the hospital, he met his friend Blazing Furnace at the entrance. He is a rustic green pegasus pony with a red and tan mane and eyes of shimmering gold. His cutie mark was a bronze emblem of a unicorn horn over a pegasus wing. He usually has too many orders at the castle to hang out.
“I came as soon as I heard. Are you two alright and what did you need?” He exclaims in a panicked tone.
“Were both alright Blazing so please calm down? Ditzy is going to be in the hospital for three to four months and it’s my fault entirely. What happened is I asked her to take care of a storm cloud while I was moving a few clouds. Something went wrong with the cloud and it gave her a really bad shock. I flew down and caught her on my back. Her falling on me messed my wings up but it was the only way to save her. I quickly rushed her to the hospital and had her taken care of.” Sun Drifter explained in haste.
Blazing finally calmed down as he took a deep breath, “Well I’m just relived neither of you died. What’s with the muffins?”
“These are both of her favorite flavors. I thought it would cheer her up. Also, I need you to do me a favor, but don’t tell anyone. This is going to sound really crazy but I’m the one who sets the clouds up every evening to cause a perfect sunset. My wing is too hurt to fly. Could you do it for me? I really need you to help me.” As Sun finished his request, Blazing Furnace didn’t know what to think.
He knew he had to help his friend though. “It will be a stretch to get there every evening and run the blacksmith range, but business has been slow since we haven’t had a reason to use our equipment. Ever since when the changelings invaded, we haven’t had to pick up a spear or anything. So sure I can. Do you have any directions?” Sun Drifter grabbed a piece of paper off the receptionists counter and drew a picture of what the clouds and sun are supposed to look like then gave it to Blazing.
“Thank you so much Blazing. This means a great deal!” Sun Drifter said as he shook Blazing’s hoof with a firm grip.
“It’s no problem Sun. What are friends for?” Blazing then left to get started on the clouds while Sun started to head towards
Ditzy’s room on floor two.
Sun Drifter knocked on the door to room nine where Ditzy was staying. A sweet, but tired voice said for him to come in. As soon as Sun entered, Ditzy jumped up at him saying “Sun Drifter, your back!”
They share a long passionate hug for several moments. “I brought you something.”
Sun pulled out the bags that held two dozen steaming moist muffins. “Consider it a get well present.”
“Oh you sweet stallion, get over here.” Ditzy grabbed the blue pegasus over and then kissed him on the cheek.
Sun, not knowing how to react, stood in a frozen state while forgetting to hide his blushing face. Ditzy chuckled at him and said “The doctor told me that you saved my life. Thank you. I couldn’t imagine what would have happened if you didn’t catch me. You’re the only pony to ever be here for me like this. I hope you can forgive me for me messing up your wing and how will you set the sunsets up? I really messed up didn’t I?”
Ditzy was at the brink of crying at this point. The guilt of all of this was running through her mind. Sun noticed this and spread his arms waiting for her to accept his embrace.
Ditzy leaped herself into Sun’s hooves with tears running down her face knocking him over to the ground. “You don’t need to apologize. It was an accident and I would do anything to protect you Ditzy. You mean a great deal to me and I don’t want to lose you.”
Ditzy looked at Sun and stared into his shinning periwinkle eyes “Oh Sun Drifter, you always know how to make me smile. You won’t be leaving me anytime soon either, right? Promise me that.”
“Of course Ditzy, I promise. What did the doctors say about this whole thing?” Sun Drifter asked.
“They said it was different than the usual pea up the nose and they called you a hero. You’re my hero though.” The smiling mare shared as she rested her hoof on Sun’s chest which was damp from Ditzy’s tears.
“I think I could get use to that title.” Sun said chuckling wholeheartedly.
As they continued to talk, the subject of work came up. “Yea, what do you do for work?” Sun Drifter asked.
“I’m Ponyville’s mail mare. Oh no! How will I do my job? How am I going to be able to deliver the packages and letters? I’m going to lose my job!”Ditzy Doo said in a frantic state.
Sun Drifter placed his hoof on hers saying “No you won’t because I will take care of it. I may not be able to fly but I can still run. I will head up to the post office first thing in the morning and do your job till you get better. How does that sound?”
“You really are my hero. Thank you. I really can’t thank you enough, but thank you none the less. You have done so much
for me since we have met. Just, thank you.” Ditzy Doo said as she went to hug Sun Drifter.
Sun held her close as he stroked his hoof through her blond mane “Get your rest Ditzy. I will check on you tomorrow after I do your rounds.”
Ditzy whispered over Sun’s shoulder into his ear “You will have a ton of ground to cover.”
Sun kissed Ditzy’s forehead and told her “I will figure something out. I promise.”