One Shot, One Chance

by SpeederClaw


Chapter 4: Pills Here

Enzo and Vice found themselves in the heart of Ponyville: the market. Stands were set up left and right down a long, narrow street selling every item you could think of. Fruits, conditioners, toys, there was literally everything available. The bustling bargaining of ponies filled the two stallions’ ears with satisfaction. The whole scene was truly magnificent, each and everypony was laughing and smiling with each other. The colorful, intricate stalls seemed to be bursting with happiness. All of It was amazing in Enzo and Vice’s eyes.

“Holy mother, look at all this stuff!” Vice shouted over the loud chatter of various ponies.

“It’s pretty,” Enzo said softly.

“Did I hear pretty? Pretty?” Vice sighed. “What am I going to do with you, Enzo?” Vice said with an annoyed look on his face.

“What do you mean? All I said was that it looked pretty,” Enzo defended.

“You gotta man up!” Vice said lightly punching his partner on the shoulder. “Remember earlier with the nurse? That’s a big no-no, you couldn’t even spit out your own damn name. You can’t do that anymore, Enzo. Learn to toughen up, take initiative!”

“Why are you telling me this?” cried Enzo.

“Well it’s because y-“ Before Vice could finish his sentence, a loud, grumbling noise cut him off. Enzo chuckled a bit as Vice put his hooves on his stomach. Almost immediately after, another growl could be heard. This time Vice was laughing as Enzo checked his own stomach.

“I guess I’ll have to explain later,” Vice said scratching his head. “Right now, let’s chow.” The excited pony took out the saddlebag he had with him and opened the brown bag up. It wasn’t particularly nice looking as it was old and worn out. Its leather exterior felt extremely rough, but Vice disregarded that as he reached in and ruffled around. Eventually his hoof came in contact with something and he tried to pull it out, but failed miserably.

“…you okay there?"

“Just…dandy,” Vice said concentrating on picking up whatever was in the bag. Enzo could barely notice sweat start to form on Vice’s head. His hoof was still rummaging through the bag vigorously. Time went by as Vice started to feel slight anger rising in him. ‘What in the-I’ve seen ponies pick up stuff with their bare hooves. So how come I CAN’T!’ Vice thought angrily.

“Screw it!” Vice said as he turned the bag upside down and dumped the contents of the bag onto the ground. A single bag of Grass Gummis as well as an ample amount of AppleBran Bars spilled out. Along the assortment of goodies, a glittering snow globe fell out. Within the mix of food, Enzo managed to catch the snow globe with both hooves, standing perfectly on his two hind legs while in a diving position. “Nice reflexes, you look like a ballerina,” Vice said with a witty smile. “Now, what the...hay is that?”

“A snow globe,” Enzo said peering into the blue tinted glass. He was intrigued by the dancing snowflakes and snowponies sitting within the artificial winter wonderland.

“That much I figured out,” said Vice rolling his eyes. “But what’s it doing with the food?” He thought long and hard for a second. He developed a scheming grin and inspected the snow globe. “...and how much is it worth?”

“What?” Enzo yelped pulling his eyes away and almost toppling over due to his strained position. “You’re not thinking of selling this are you? We don’t even know who’s thi-“

“I’m just tugging your…uh, never mind. For now, let’s just eat food already. I’m starving,” Vice said quickly, trying to cover up his devious plan. He fiddled with the AppleBran Bar trying to get it open. The noticeable sweat was starting to come back just like before. ‘Really?' Vice thought with self-doubt. After much struggle, he finally got the wrapper to rip and out popped the bar. It was a caramel color with various shades of brown splotches here and there. Shining, bright red dots were embedded in the bar as well.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?"

“No clue.” Vice said as he took a bite out of the bar. It tasted bland at first, kind of like bread. The bar felt very crunchy and hard at first, softening up as Vice chewed onward. But then the sweet flavor of apple exploded in Vice’s mouth. It filled his tongue with delight as the sweetness sizzled all around. He savored the palatable taste as much as possible before taking another munch from the bar.

“Aaaaww yeah!” Vice said with energetic power. “So worth it!” he announced spitting AppleBran chunks everywhere.

“…” Enzo was speechless.

Vice threw him a bar and he was barely able to catch it. He inspected it and looked directly at Vice with a quizzical look.

“Eat up!” Vice said with a mouthful. “It’s gonna be a long ass day.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Gaaaahh!” Blitz screamed in sheer pain as he got out of the hospital bed. He tried to hold his ground, but his knees were shaking. His broken left leg felt as if it were being devoured by starving parasprites. He was breathing heavily as he took his first step. The pain returned, but wasn’t as severe as before.

“Always those first filly steps,” he said under his breath.He mustered enough strength to start a slow limp. Each step sent a jolt of pain in his leg, but he trudged on. Never in his life had he felt so much pain before. Blitz reached the door, but was stopped by a familiar voice before he could head out.

“Hello? Are you alright? I heard screams, what’s goi-oh, Mister Blitz!” Nurse Redheart had materialized before Blitz’s eyes. “Why are you in a hurry all of a sudden? You don’t look so good,” she said worried about him.

“Thanks.”

“I didn’t mean it in that way, but you need rest,” the nurse said.

“Well. Rest isn’t an option right now. I’ve gotten my possessions stolen and I need to get them back quickly.” Blitz pleaded to the nurse while he crawled on the hospital floor.

“Don’t tell me.”

“Yep, those two fools, whatever their names are. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some catching up to do,” Blitz managed to say before he winced in agony.

“I can’t let you leave in that condition. You have to rest!” Nurse Redheart demanded with a raised hoof.

“You let that Enzo guy-I think-leave since he said he was fine. Well, I’m fine too,” Blitz shot back as he limped out the door.

“…okay, wait,” Nurse Redheart said. “…I-I can give you something to help with the pain.” She pulled out a half white, half red pill and showed it to Blitz.

“What-“

“Take it, trust me.” Blitz saw the assurance in nurse Redheart’s light blue eyes. He picked up the pill and examined it. Nothing was too special about it and he quickly plopped it into his mouth. The taste came out bitter and he quickly swallowed it before the unpleasant feeling in his tongue could linger.

“Bleuagh...I don’t like the taste,” Blitz complained.

“Sorry, but it will help ease up the pain. You’ll be able to walk with little trouble,” the nurse concluded.

“Gee, thanks. Do you know where those two went by any chance?” Blitz asked quickly.

“I overheard them talking about visiting the market,” she answered. “I don’t know exactly where, sorry.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry. Thanks!” said Blitz starting out the door.

“Do be careful Mister Blitz!”

“I will, and please, just call me Blitz.”

“I will.” Nurse Redheart still had a hint of worry in her voice as she watched Blitz exit the room. He tested to see if the pill actually worked. It was as if the pain was slowly ebbing away in his broken leg. Soon enough, he only felt a slight tightness in his leg.

“Alright you fools, I’m coming for you both!” Blitz said with confidence as he exited through the hospital doors. He was outside for the first time since he was sent to the hospital in the morning. He inhaled a large puff of air and strode off toward Ponyville’s wondrous market.