One Shot, One Chance

by SpeederClaw

Chapter 19: All the Problems

“Listen, I’ve had a ton of experience with girls. Trust me, Enzo, I know what I’m talking about.” Vice gestured his hooves wildly as he exclaimed his explanation to the black stallion. Enzo simply listened without protest and watched Vice continue. “Now, first things first. Always be confident and funny; girls love that in a guy. Be the one in control, but show your laid back persona. Just be cool and go with the flow.”

“I get it,” Enzo said.

“Yeah, but you’re not gonna do any of those things,” Vice said back.

“It’s because I can’t. You of all should know that.” This time Enzo spoke with soft irritation.

“So, what are we gonna do? I mean, Fluttershy is practically waiting on a silver platter-damn that did not come out right. I didn’t mean-”

“Yeah you did,” Enzo interrupted coldly. Vice scratched his head with embarrassment.

“Fine, ya got me. But seriously, you really have feelings for that Fluttershy girl don’tcha?” Vice gave Enzo an earnest look.

“Vice-”

“Don’t cloud me with mystery, Enzo. I need to know. As a friend.” Enzo sifted the dirt around gently before becoming motionless. He raised his bright red eyes and firmly gazed at Vice’s purple eyes.

“Yes.”

“Nice answer, clean and clear. Okay, so I got a plan for you.” Vice paused for his own dramatic effect. “Go up to her and say hi.”

“But, I already did that! And you know what happened.” Enzo winced at the memory of yesterday’s party.

“Well, this time it’s gonna be an actual conversation. Like talk talk, not talk then be interrupted by a buncha jerkwads.” Vice gave his words the most enthusiasm he could muster by swaying his hooves around furiously. “This time you got nothing to distract you. All there is to it is to say hi and start with a compliment. ‘Oh, that’s a nice…uh-that’s-did you put on perfume today, because you smell absolutely adorable’,” Vice said in Enzo’s quiet-like voice.

“Smell absolutely adorable? Why smell, that’s just…weird!” Enzo said with worry.

“Hey, did you ever notice that ponies around here aren’t exactly wearing anything? I mean are you going to go up to, I don’t know, Applejack and be like ‘that’s a nice hat ya got there partner.’” Vice mimicked Applejack’s accent with emphasis. “No, you’re not.” Enzo stayed perfectly quite as Vice finished his spiel on clothing.

“I don’t think I can do it,” Enzo finally said weakly.

“Hey, now’s not the time to bug out, man. I know you’re scared, I understand that. But you’re gonna have to learn to do these types of things.” Vice looked doubtingly at his friend and finally spoke with pained truth. “You’re afraid of rejection aren’t you?” Enzo pursed his lips and eyed Vice heavily. “That’s alright, all us guys are. I tell you, there’s not one dude out there who isn’t just a teeny bit afraid of being turned down. Now with that being said, I have all my faith in you two. Hell, you friggin’ saved her yesterday from those jackasses. It’s clear she likes you; she’s just too shy to show it. Maybe she’s afraid of rejection too, eh? Never thought of that one didja?”

Enzo absorbed all information and hope that Vice was spilling out. He slowly lifted his sagged body upward and stood firmly. “I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right, hehe. Now, go into town or something and try and find her.” Vice gave Enzo a shamed face as he said his sentence with hesitation. “Seriously, I bet she’s sticking around there shopping for, uh, stuff.”

“You didn’t even have a plan for after your speech,” Enzo said jokingly. “But, what about the farm? I mean, I can’t just leave like that; Applejack would suspect something,” said Enzo with worry replacing his confidence.

“Don’t you worry your pretty head off, Enzo, I got it covered. I’ll just be pounding trees double time, no sweat. Just have faith in me like I do in you and all will be good,” Vice rambled on. “Seriously though, I got your back. Applejack won’t be any trouble when I’m finished with her…holy-my lord I can’t stop saying wrong things.” Vice shared a typical laugh with Enzo before waltzing off towards a fruitful apple tree. “Get going, tiger, today’s your lucky day!” Enzo contemplated all the conversation that had occurred within the past five minutes and sighed.

“Alright, just make sure you stay in one piece. Can’t tell what Applejack will do to you if you mess around,” Enzo said with an upbeat tone. Vice laughed wholeheartedly and waved as Enzo left the apple tree forest. A swift air of reassuring wind flushed past Enzo in a flurry. The feel sent a cool sensation circulating throughout Enzo’s entire body. It was an invigorating gale of new opportunity.

“You better come back smiling like I do, you hear?” Vice called out to Enzo.

“I will.”

~~~~~~~~~~

The familiar buzz and chatter of the Ponyville market area sent nostalgic rhythms down Blitz’s body as he entered the cheerful exchange. He peered in and out of stalls selling various wares and goods, all of which he had never seen before due to his city life build. He trotted around happily as he searched for a particular stall. “Twilight said she needed a new set of quills and paper, so I should be looking for some sort of…I don’t even know. Supply store, maybe?” Blitz shook his head nervously as he came to the conclusion that he did not know where to begin looking once more.

“I would call myself useless, but that’s not going to happen. Gotta be positive,” Blitz told himself definitely. He pranced around some more before coming upon an old newspaper stand. He slowly approached the shop and awaited an introduction. The shopkeeper eyed Blitz curiously before adjusting his cap.

“Hello there, sir, may I interest you in the daily newspaper?” the pony asked nicely.

“Um, do you happen to have any quills and paper in stock? About a dozen quills and three dozen pieces of paper by chance?” Blitz said hopefully. The stallion behind the counter nodded solemnly and disappeared under the desk. Blitz waited a few anxious seconds before encountering a returning salespony holding several items of trade. The transaction between bits and goods were done smoothly, Blitz flung his own filled bag over his shoulder and promptly trotted off back to Twilight Sparkle’s house.

“Guess I truly am suited to be a delivery pony,” Blitz muttered to himself with content. As the unicorn exited the market, he stopped and took note of a peculiar stallion. With a closer view and inspection, Blitz smiled at the results. “Enzo?” The black stallion jumped at his name and faced the blue stallion with uncertainty.

“Oh, hello, Blitz,” Enzo said quickly. “Er, how are you today?”

“Excellent, actually really good. How about you?” Blitz said lightly. It was then he saw that Enzo was shuddering a bit and was looking disgruntled. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, I just-I’m going for a stroll in the market,” Enzo said with each word coming out as slow and robotic as the previous. Blitz gave Enzo a bizarre look before continuing his questioning.

“You sure don’t sound convincing,” Blitz said with a hint of doubt. He held his breathe and quickly apologized, but Enzo held up a hoof to intercept.

“I guess I should tell you. I might need help anyway.” Enzo wiggled his lips before revealing his mission to Blitz. “So, um, you know I-me and Fluttershy-yesterday-uh-” Blitz could tell that Enzo was having trouble explaining himself. He also noticed that Enzo’s ears and cheeks were starting to get red in color. “Well, I have this thing for her,” Enzo continued apprehensively. “I want to talk to her because I didn’t get the chance yesterday and I don’t know how to approach her,” Enzo said with more satisfaction.

“I’m going to pull a Vice here and assume that…uh,” Blitz paused cautiously before pursuing his assumption. “You must have feelings for her, aw buck it, you like her don’t you!” Blitz said with more force than question. Enzo closed his eyes and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Oh, okay.” Blitz calmed himself down and laughed at his outburst.

Enzo caught up with the laugh, but subtly. “Have you ever liked a girl?”

The statement was almost instant, Blitz became stunned. “Of co-” Blitz shut his mouth and winced as he was about to let his pure emotions out. “Well, yes. I think almost every stallion does,” Blitz said as a cover up. “Back a while ago, before we met, I used to like this girl.” Blitz paused again. 'Am I really going to tell Enzo everything? He deserves to know, we have to break this mysterious barrier between us. It’s the only way.’ Enzo looked around awkwardly as the conversation came to a halt. “Oh yeah, sorry. I mean, we were kinda close, but she broke off because…well-I didn’t have enough courage.” The words came out as a bitter resentment. “I let her go.” Enzo stayed quiet, but did not know how to respond.

“So she just left? Were you two living together? How close-” Enzo stopped and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry, its-”

“Just normal. I understand what you’re going through.” Blitz smiled softly. “We lived together, me, her and my friend, Fuzzy Fry. We all lived together in Fuzzy’s house, paying off the house with what little bits we had. It was hard, but we stuck with each other, you know?” Blitz lost his smile and his face turned grim as he continued his past story. “Life got harder, we started to have less time to spend with each other. I didn’t have a job, Fuzzy barely made any money and she, well, she couldn’t take it. So she left.”

“I see."

“Yeah, her name was…Bluebelle. I never really could’ve asked her out now that I think about it,” Blitz said. ’Well, this positive attitude isn’t really working,’ he thought. “But, enough about me. Uh, let’s focus on you.” Blitz tilted his head at a frozen Enzo standing solid in place with his eyes wide open. “Are you alright? Is it something I said?” Blitz asked. He paused and turned around to spot a yellow mare walking tentatively nearby. “Oh, that’s why.”

“What do I do?” Enzo squealed with distress.

Blitz gave the black stallion a look of despair as he fumbled with his own thoughts. 'Celestia, now I know how Vice feels,' Blitz thought curiously. “Just say-”

“Hi, got it. Just say hi,” Enzo blurted out.

“Yeah.” Blitz watched eagerly as Enzo brushed past him and hurried up towards Fluttershy. The black stallion wiped his head quickly of sweat and took in a deep breath. He watched the yellow mare as she neared a stall and started conversation with the clerk. Enzo approached with extreme tenderness, his legs wobbled with each step.

“Why is this so hard?” Enzo said urgently to himself. “It’s just a conversation, what’s going on!” Enzo gazed up and found Fluttershy staring right into his red eyes. He then realized he had shouted the sentence out loud in front of her face. The yellow mare jumped back and squeaked as an undesired result. She failed to hide behind her own mane as Enzo stood shaking in place at his outburst. “Oh, no-uh, you-hi!” Enzo bound a wide smile on his face and waved unnaturally fast. Fluttershy gave him a look of confusion before calming down.

“Hi,” she said softly. Both ponies looked at each other with complete silence. Enzo took note of every detail on Fluttershy’s face. Her azure blue eyes shined potently, her pink mane flowed mildly with the wind. Her mouth moved in a quiver, Enzo sensed that both ponies were subtly shaking. He tensed up as the mare addressed him directly. “Thank you, for yesterday.”

“G-oh, um, you’re welcome,” Enzo responded. “Those guys had it coming.” He tried to be serious, but ended up adding an unexpected laugh at the end. “I mean, they deserved it; they were bullying you.”

“I know, they were.” Another cold silence followed Fluttershy’s quiet reply. Enzo kept breaking eye contact as he started to lose confidence.

’What now? I have nothing to work off of; I don’t want to bring up yesterday. But, I have nothing! Oh God!’ “So, um, you-uh-” Enzo unintentionally shook his head and squinted his eyes. “You smell adorable!” Fluttershy jolted at the sentence and stared at Enzo awkwardly. ’That was so stupid, why did I do that? Damn you Vice, why-’

“Thanks.” Enzo stared dumbfounded at Fluttershy as she made her comment. “You, um, you look nice too.”

'What is going on.’ Enzo formed a small smile and itched his head“Thanks. So, uh, what are you buying?” Enzo said as quickly as possible once the idea popped into his head.

“Oh, just some food for my animal friends. Luckily, the nice shopkeeper gave me some stuff for a discount.” Enzo beamed happily as he succeeded in starting a somewhat normal conversation. “How about you?”

“Me, oh, I-” Enzo stopped as he contemplated what his next action should be. “I’m here to buy…apples! Apples for Applejack.” Enzo’s smile faded as he realized what he had just said. ’Apples for Applejack, what? Oh no, this isn’t good. I screwed up!’

“That sounds nice. I’m happy that you were able to work for Appejack,” Fluttershy said now smiling lightly at Enzo.

“Yeah.” Enzo returned the smile and boldly asked another question. “So, uh, you like animals a lot?”

“Yes, I love all creatures of Equestria, especially the small ones. But, um, I’m a little scared of dragons,” Fluttershy said looking at the ground.

“Yeah, me too. They’re big and scary, but maybe they’re just sweethearts on the inside,” Enzo added with a giggle. Fluttershy joined in the laugh and Enzo’s heart melted with warmth. 'I hope I don’t pass out from this cuteness overload. This is too much.’

“You might be right,” Fluttershy said keeping the joke still alive.

Blitz watched intently as Enzo and Fluttershy chattered away. He chuckled at each inept interval the two shared. ’I’m really glad I was able to help Enzo, even if that is Vice’s job. It just feels right and good to help other ponies,’ Blitz thought with sensational content. He maintained eyesight on the ponies talking, narrowing in selectively on Enzo. ’I still don’t have a clue who Enzo really is; where he came from. I feel like I should ask him, but I get the feeling he’s going to suppress it like Vice,’ he thought. ’Maybe it’s better that way. They probably know just as much of me as I know of them.’

“…so I’ll see you later, I think.”

“Yeah, bye.” Enzo waved slowly and smoothly as he watched Fluttershy leave. In her absence, Enzo let his body settle and he felt all tension being released. “That went better than expected, thanks Vice.” Enzo looked up and realized that Blitz was still watching, albeit absentmindedly. “Thanks too, Blitz. I might not have gone through if it wasn’t for you.” Enzo smiled at his futile words. “I wonder how Vice is doing.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Aw, gimme a damn break!”

“I thought we all talked about this, Vice. You had yer breaks!”

“That’s not what I meant, Applejack.”

“What do you mean then?” Applejack eyed Vice with intimidation as the brown pegasus found himself in a tight situation. A table was constantly being hammered by Vice and Applejack. The room aired with mystery as the two ponies argued. Big Macintosh watched with subtle amusement in the corner of the house. His huge build towered over the two other ponies, effecting Vice significantly.

“I mean let me explain,” Vice said eying Big Mac suspiciously. “So, me and Enzo-we’re working hard, right-we go at it; smashing trees and getting apples. Just like you said; exactly as you instructed.” Vice paused, to Applejack’s discontent, and grinned wildly. “Enzo gets tired-I mean, we all get tired-but this is Enzo. So he gets tired and asks for a break. A small eensy teensy break. A pony needs his vigor am I right?” Vice obnoxiously nudged Big Macintosh.

“Eeyup.”

“See, the big guy agrees. Anyway, he’s tired so I tell him to freshen up, relax, take a break.” Vice kept his voice smooth and crisp. He did not falter, but he spoke fast. Applejack raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes.

“Yer bluffin’,” she called out.

“Nuh-uh, he needed a rest so I told him to go to town. Go visit the markets, find something to soothe thy soul.” Vice lost his grin, but withheld his poker face with Applejack’s doubting appearance.

“Okay, but how are you gonna explain him bein’ gone all day? It’s nearly nighttime, Luna’s moon is risin’ and yer shifts are almost over. You two barely harvested any apples; not enough,” Applejack scolded.

Vice snorted which only added to Applejack’s irritation. “Listen, it’s the effort and thought that counts. I tried my very bestest to get dem apples, but apparently it’s not enough. I tried, I triiied,” Vice finished in song. “Hey, Bic Mac, you believe in effort, right-eh?”

“Eeyup.”

“See, this guy’s got my back. Somepony’s got my back. I like that, I like you. Let’s be pals.”

“Stop stallin’,” Applejack demanded blindly.

“Stalling? What stalling-no, I’m simply giving you the details. Why can’t you just respect that?” Vice said nonchalantly.

“It’s ‘cause yer a dirty liar,” Applejack said bitterly.

“Um, sorry. Am I interrupting?” a voice peeped through the doorway. Enzo was standing solidly, watching the dispute go down between his boss and his friend.

“Ahaha, Enzo. Nice timing. Why don’t you tell the lovely Miss Applejack why you were gone all day, hm? C’mon tell her the truth.” Vice eagerly awaited Enzo’s answer. Applejack merely gazed at the black stallion with anticipation.

“I was, uh, tired. I needed a rest in town,” Enzo replied with extreme hesitation. Applejack gave Enzo the most threatening look he had ever seen. But, she simply sighed and shook her head.

“This is why we’re missing all these apples; ‘cause of you two!” Applejack accused harshly. Vice cocked his eyebrow and frowned.

“Whaaat? Missing apples? We didn’t, like, steal or eat any of them, no!” Vice defended vigorously. Applejack frowned herself and looked away.

“Well, somethin’ is up and I don’t know what’s goin’ on. Look, I’m sorry, it’s just annoyin’ that it’s happenin’,” Applejack said with agitation.

“Missing apples,” Vice said quizzically. “Sounds like a mystery ripe for solving, eh?” Vice smirked, to Applejack’s distaste.

“Eeyup,” Bic Macintosh agreed.

“Why don’t y’all just check in for the day. We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” Applejack said with a tiring mood. “Good night.”

“Night, and hey, don’t worry. I bet it’s nothing big to worry about. Maybe it’s just animals or something, Fluttershy can help with that.” Vice grinned teasingly at Enzo who stiffened up at the name.

“Maybe yer right.” Applejack watched the two ponies leave the room and turned to Big Macintosh. “I hope they’re right.”

“Eeyup.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“Damn, that was some tight stuff, Enzo,” Vice whispered excitedly. “She almost smoked my ass clean out of the water there, I was about to give in, haha. But, you came and saved meh. Thanks buddy.” Enzo responded silently with a weird look. “Alright then, so how was Fluttershy?”

“Good,” Enzo said sheepishly.

“Uhhh-did she say hi back? Please, elaborate.” Vice waited patiently, but expelled a sense of pressure for Enzo to explain his story. The black pony sighed and spoke softly, but seriously to Vice.

“Well, I said hi and she said hi…then we just talked about stuff.”

“Sounds boring, she sounds boring,” Vice said with attitude.

“What the f…”

“Ah, say it. Say the big bad word,” Vice teased aggressively.

“No.”

“C’mon, you gotta swear. I haven’t heard you swear since-”

“Shit,” Enzo said calm and coldly. “Are you happy?”

“Beyond all expectations. Still, I would’ve preferred the F word.” Vice shuffled in his bed and made loud, purposeful noises. “I was kidding, that’s good, Enzo. You’re really starting to come back.”

“Come back from what?” Enzo asked sitting up from his own bed.

“Never mind, you’re doing swell. I bet that girl’s crazy for you. Remember, the shy girls are always the most vicious.” Enzo’s face twisted into a face of doubt. Vice shrugged slyly. “Y’know, I don’t even know if I’m kidding about that one.”

Comments

[.Tzeentch.]

is the story cover from skyrim frost enchant ?

[SpeederClaw]

1911431 Hey, thanks for taking the time to review, I really appreciate it . Good luck with your story as well!

[SpeederClaw]

1912605 Haha, yeah you got the Skyrim part right. It's actually the icon for the Blizzard Spell (which is the last ice spell and most powerful if I remember).