//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: An Unexpected Visit // Story: One Shot, One Chance // by SpeederClaw //------------------------------// Blitz found himself in the snowy meadow once more. Snowflakes where dancing as he slowly got up and started trotting forward. Sifting through snow and flowers, Blitz was peering around for a particular somepony. The bright glow of the whole scene blurred his vision greatly, but he kept on searching. “I know you’re around here. Please, come out,” Blitz begged slowly. Just then, the muffled voice filled Blitz ears. He looked around to locate the source, but came up empty hoofed. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a change in color and the illuminating snow around him started to grow darker. He noticed that the flowers started to wilt and crumble down. His eyes finally witnessed the cause of all this. Sweeping across the meadow was a giant, vibrant shade of red. Upon closer examination, Blitz concluded that it was indeed a fiery heat wave. “Please, tell me where you are! We have to get out of here. Please,” Blitz said in agony. The heat wave was dangerously close as the glow around the meadow had vanished and was replaced by red, bright light. Before Blitz was consumed by the great fire, he heard one final sentence. “Help me.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Blitz awoke with a start breathing heavily and covered in sweat. It took a few solid minutes for Blitz to cool down and realize that he wasn’t in any danger. In fact, he was lying on a soft, comfy bed with his head resting on a white, fluffy pillow. He was covered in a red and white checkered blanket which had been messed up due to his thrashing about beforehand. “Well, I did ask for comfortable beds. Now, where am I?” he said dazed. Blitz looked around and noticed that almost everything was gleaming white. The desk next to him held a pot of red and purple flowers which gave off a sweet, fragrant scent. Celestia’s sun was shining through the blinds of a window and Blitz could tell it was still daytime. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’m in a hospital.” The pony tried to get out of the bed, but he felt something was wrong. Despite the pain he was feeling all over his body, there was one particular spot that felt plain out wrong. He threw the blankets off of him and recoiled in horror at what he saw. “How did this happen? My leg…it’s broken,” Blitz said in absolute terror. He couldn’t take his eyes off the bandaged leg. No wonder he felt weird, he couldn’t feel anything in his leg at all. Before his eternal gaze at his leg could continue, the door in front of his bed opened and in walked a nurse holding a clipboard. She was a milky white mare with a bright pink mane. Her hair was perfectly tied back into a bun. She wore a white cap with a red cross and pink hearts. Her cutie mark also happened to resemble her cap symbol. “Oh, you’re awake, Mister…” The nurse hesitated. “Uh, Blitz, ma’am,” said Blitz slowly trying to pull together his thoughts. “Ah, well Mister Blitz, how are you feeling? I hope you’re not in too much pain,” the nurse said in a worried, but comforting tone. “May I ask what happened? I mean, how did I get here and more importantly how did I break my leg?” Blitz asked with a confused expression. “Well, it says here that you were in a train accident. You were found with a broken leg when some ponies brought you here,” she said glancing at her clipboard. “You’ve been here since this morning, so we’ve managed to wrap you up quick.” ‘Train accident, that’s right.’ Blitz envisioned what happened a few hours earlier. He remembered the train, the figures that swooped by, the howling wheels, and the screams of terrified ponies; all of it. He cringed at the pain when he remembered that he was tossed about within the train. ‘So, I’m brought here. Probably the nicest looking room I’ve ever been at in my entire life.’ “…” “Oh, sorry, I got lost in my thoughts…I’m kind of like that,” Blitz said apologetically. “It’s okay; a lot of our patients are like that after their first traumatizing accident,” she concluded. ‘Was that supposed to be a joke?’ “You can call me Nurse Redheart. If you need me just give me a holler and I’ll be here as soon as I can,” Nurse Redheart said as she started towards the door. “I will, don’t wo-wait!” Blitz caught himself. “You said there were some ponies who came and took me here?” “Yes, why?” she said turning back around. “Who were they exactly?” “Well…” The nurse didn’t know how to respond. “You’re lookin’ right at him!” announced an unknown voice. Both Nurse Redheart and Blitz stared with their mouths open in shock. In walked a stallion wearing a thick, light brown trench coat. Blitz noticed that his coat was a slightly darker color than the trench coat, but it was still pretty light. His pitch black mane consisted of several tufts of hair jutting out on the right side of his head. Blitz saw that his tail seemed ruffled naturally, but still somewhat refined. What Blitz couldn’t see was this mysterious stallion’s cutie mark or if he was a pegasus or earth pony for that matter. He seemed to have a gleam in his dark, purple eyes as he smiled proudly at Blitz. “Name’s Vicer or Vice for short. You can thank me later. You’re probably all battered up and stuff,” the stallion said smiling. “Just remember that name though; it did save you from impending doom.” ‘This is the guy who rescued me…’ Blitz thought doubtfully. “Ahem…” said another unknown voice. Both Nurse Redheart and Blitz turned to the other patient bed a few feet across from them. Blitz almost fell out of his bed while the nurse simply closed her still gaping mouth. The bed had bright green curtains covering whoever was inside. Blitz could barely make out a shadow of a pony, probably a stallion. ‘Alright now, how did I miss that?’ “Oh yeah, I almost forgot why I came here,” Vice replied. “Hey, chucklehead, wake up!” he ordered to the other patient’s bed. “What does that even mean?” the other voice said. “I don’t even know. So, what did you ‘ahem’ for, huh?” Vice said stamping his hoof. “Well, I just wanted to say that…I helped too,” the other voice said muffling his words slightly at the end. “Alrighty, well you must be feelin’ fine right? I mean, I assume you’re feelin’ just great, right?” Vice said keeping the questions coming. “I’m fine,” the voice promptly said. “Good, so you ready to get outta here?” Vice said already facing the door. “Sure." ‘It’s like me and Nurse Redheart aren’t even here,’ Blitz thought looking back and forth between the nurse and the mysterious duo. “…why are you still behind that damn curtain then?” No answer came. Just then a malicious grin spread across Vice’s face as he slowly lifted his hoof up to his chin. He kept his smile as his dusk, purple eyes darted back and forth from the silhouette behind the green curtain to the nurse next to Blitz. Both Blitz and Nurse Redheart just stared at the Vice trying to figure out what he was doing. “You’re trying to act all shy in front of the nurse aren’t you!” Vice finally shouted as he pointed towards the patient’s bed. “WHAT!” Both the nurse and Blitz’s jaws dropped right on the spot. The stallion ripped away the green curtain and threw it to the side. Blitz finally got a good look at what the pony actually looked like. He noticed that the stallion was in a sitting position with his hoofs now covering his mouth. Blitz noticed the crimson scarf right off the bat. It was wrapped neatly around the stallion’s neck, forming a small sort of bow near the front. His coat had an extremely dark, black tint slightly darker than Vice’s mane. This pony’s mane, however, was a pale, dark green. It was lean and slick being smoothly laid back. His tail jutted upward and outward away from his body dropping straight, vertically down to the ground after a few inches. This seemed to form a sort of triangle in Blitz’s eyes. The silver horseshoe cutie mark was evident in Blitz’s inspection. It seemed to shine in the dark stallion’s coat. His bright cardinal, red eyes seemed to be fixed on Vice in anguish. “…” the pony stayed silent. “You can’t fool me; I know what you’re up to!” Vice said cutting the silence. Blitz noticed that the stallion’s face was bright red. He watched as the stallion slowly turned toward the nurse without a word. He also noticed that the nurse was indeed starting to show bits of red in her face. ‘Awkward…’ “Well? Go ahead, introduce yourself. Be a gentlecolt!” Vice exclaimed. Blitz hadn’t noticed it before, but he saw some sort of blue band around the stallion’s wrist. It was something he had never seen before. Then again, Blitz didn’t really see much in his time in Manehatten. He couldn’t really describe the peculiar item either, but he didn’t pay much attention as the stallion opened his mouth and prepared to speak. “Um, hel-hi, uh…” the stallion’s eyes were literally dancing as he looked back and forth from the nurse to Vice to Blitz. “I’m…my, uh, name is-” the stallion seemed to stop mid sentence. Blitz kept inspecting the stallion and observed various scratches and bruises on his chest area. None of them seemed to major, at least to Blitz, but the pony also saw that there was a white bandage covering the right cheek of the stallion. It looked ragged and couldn’t have been recent. ‘Geez, I haven’t seen somepony have problems like this since I met Fuzzy. Long lost brother maybe? No, what am I even thinking now?’ Blitz thought as he awaited a response from the now shuddering stallion. “I…I-I-“ “His name’s Enzo if that helps,” Vice remarked with a smug grin. “…” Enzo didn’t respond. Blitz thought his head was going to burst due to the excessive amount of redness it was receiving. He had never seen somepony blushing so hard ever in his life. “Okay," the nurse started. “Well…my name is Nurse Redheart if that helps.” “Oh it does, it does,” Vice replied comically. “Well then, if you’re friend is feeling well then he may leave with you,” Nurse Redheart replied calmly, trying to end the conversation. “I don’t know, maybe he wants to stay a bit longer, hint, hint,” Vice said winking to Enzo. “Right,” said the nurse with a stern look. The nurse’s blush seemed to fade by now, but Enzo still had traces of red on his face. “Alright then, Enzo, let’s skedaddle. I’m starving and I’ve picked up some nice looking food already. Who knew there could be so much stuff in a single saddlebag?” Vice said already halfway out the door. “Wait for me!” Enzo cried rushing towards the door. “Hold on one minute, one single-“ Blitz started. “What?” Vice interrupted. “Uh, can you tell me what happened earlier today? I mean how did you find me? How did you save me? What happened to the train? Is everypony okay? Who-“ “Wow, wow, wow there. Slow down cowpoke.” Vice said with an annoyed expression. “Uh, let us just say that I-“ “We,” Enzo added. “We...saw you and dragged you’re half beaten ass here. That’s really all there is to it,” Vice stated already out of sight. “But-“ “That’s that!” Vice shouted from an unknown location. “…” Blitz didn’t know what to do now. Enzo looked at both the nurse and Blitz and gave a small wave before leaving. The room seemed to be released of all tension, but there was still confusion floating about. Blitz and Nurse Redheart were simply frozen in position, taking in what had just happened. “Those two sure are weird,” Blitz said trying to break to reoccurring silence. “Please don’t speak of this to anypony,” the nurse said half looking at Blitz. “My lips are sealed.” Blitz acknowledged. “Well then, Mister Blitz, I may not be able to answer all of your questions, but I can tell you this. Everypony made it out alive and they are all doing well,” Nurse Redheart said. ‘Okay, I can accept everypony being in great condition except me.’ Blitz thought. “The train, however, was totaled unfortunately. The wreckage is currently being cleaned up as we speak. But enough talk of all this nonsense, you must be very tired after what had just happened. I’ll leave you to yourself,” Nurse Redheart said. She exited the room and left Blitz to his solitude. ‘Alright, so two random ponies come to save me and I end up in a hospital, that I get. But, why is one of them in the hospital with me if they were the ones saving me? Could they have been on the train with me? Or, maybe I’m just over reacting like always. Then again, that’s what I said on the train and here I am! Gaah, so confusing!’ Blitz literally threw his head back into the soft pillow. He stared at the white ceiling for a long period of time before contemplating again. The pain was starting to slowly return; it was as if it was never there in the first place during the feud between Nurse Redheart and Enzo. ‘Must’ve been some ride if I broke my leg like this.’ Blitz said remembering his now shattered leg. ‘Well, at least I’m finally in Ponyville. Now I can start my new life…hopefully. Geez, I don’t even know where to go. I hope the locals are friendly and not crazies like the two fools I just met. I gotta keep telling myself that everything will get better.’ Blitz started to close his eyes. He was extremely tired even though he had just gone through hell itself. He wanted to stay awake, but couldn’t find the strength within to fight the fatigue. ‘Why can’t all my questions be answered? I can’t even answer that!’ *sigh* ‘I should just focus on one thing: getting that job. I don’t care how it happens, but it has to. If I’m to lead a better life…shouldn’t this be my resolve? Ugh, more questions, no answers.’ A grumbling sound pierced Blitz’s thoughts. He felt a tingling sensation surge through his stomach. He rubbed it to try and suppress the feeling of hunger, but failed miserably. “Okay, I get it. I’m hungry,” Blitz said as he felt his mouth water. “Well, at least I made sure to pack plenty of snacks. Let me just-” Blitz stopped completely. “Where’s my saddlebag,” said Blitz dumbfounded. “Darn it, how could I have forgotten to ask earlier when there were witnesses at the scene? Maybe they could’ve known wh-“ Vice’s words echo through Blitz head. ‘I’m starving and I’ve picked up some nice looking food already. Who knew there could be so much stuff in a single saddlebag?’ “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Blitz blurted out. “Saddlebags and food, now where have I heard of these things? Oh yeah, that’s right I had a saddlebag with food in it,” He sighed heavily. “This only means one thing.” Blitz took a deep breath in and focused his now energetic power in the next few words. “Those two fools just ROBBED ME OF MY STUFF!” Blitz screamed in a voice which he believed was the louder than the explosions he heard earlier. ‘Will this madness ever end?’