Sins of a Shadow

by SilverFlare11

Chapter 3-New Place, Same Problems

“So how’d ya get all busted up like that, Silver?” Swift asked as the train continued to barrel towards Ponyville; they would be there in just a matter of minutes.

“Well, like I told you,” Silver started, “I was runnin’ from the cops in Canterlot. They had an interceptor from the Guard, driving a McLaren P1… that thing was fast, let me tell ya, but the guy driving it had no idea what he was doing. Drifting was sloppy, didn’t know how to pull off a proper PIT maneuver… he’s lucky that his car was the only thing that got wrecked when we crashed.”

“Wait, ya crashed?” Swift said. “How?”

“He was trying to spin me out and I had a blown tire, thanks to the stupid body kit he had on his car,” Silver replied. “Sharp edge on the front bumper blew it out and we were going, like, two hundred plus. He failed to spin me out and I slammed his car into a light post, but I oversteered because of the blown tire and popped my car up over the curb and flipped it. His car’s front axle was completely busted in half, judging by the way the wheels were skewed, and the car was pretty much unrecognizable. Same with mine, except it had a bullet hole in the door and it wasn’t banged up as bad but it was on its roof.”

“What kind of car did ya have?” Swift asked.

“A 1997 Nismo 400R,” Silver answered. “AWD with an RB-X GT2 that had my own mods on it. Twin turbo, racing intake, racing brakes and tires, racing exhaust manifold and output, stage three racing clutch, short throw shifter, NOS systems, the works. All installed by me, built from ground up. Best damn racing machine that Canterlot has and probably ever will see.” Swift chuckled.

“All of what ya just said went flyin’ past me, pardner,” Swift replied. “I don’t know the first thang ‘bout them imports o’ yurs. All I know is trains and classic muscle cars.”

“Heh, well, lemme tell ya; whatever you threw at that 400R, there was no hope for whoever was driving it. When my 400R was out racing, anyone else there was battling it out for second place. Same with when I had my old GSR and MR-2. Nopony could beat those either.” Swift looked up.

“So in total, yu’ve had three cars,” Swift said, confirming what he was hearing. “And all of ‘em have been wrecked?”

“Four, actually,” Silver replied, smirking as he thought of his original car; the very first car he’d had on the streets of Manehattan. “And the fourth one is still around. Sitting in an underground parking garage under lock and key, but still around.”

“And what’s that one?”

“Old S13 Nissan 240SX liftback. That thing… whoo, nopony ever saw what was coming when that was lining up against them. They had NO clue what I had under the hood of that little beast.”

“What’d ya do with it?”

“Well, it started out just as my daily driver to go out and do things for my family. Then I started racing, and as I started getting more and more money I realized that I was gonna need to start modding it. So that’s what I did. I took out the stock motor and dropped a JDM spec RB26DETT from an R34 Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec in it, with the GTR’s transmission. Then I swapped out the stock turbos for two HKS ball bearing ones and put in a racing intercooler, and the same short shifter and stage three clutch combo. Threw in a cold air intake and straight piped the exhaust and threw an Injen muffler on there just to keep it looking like it could pass emissions, because that thing definitely didn’t pass them; it had no resonator and no catalytic converter, but man, that thing sounded so mean without all of that on there. I tuned the hell out of that little car… drifted it all over the place, raced it anywhere I could, just so I could get the money to keep modding it. Kept throwing all my money into that car, putting anything I had left on races I was in. Fuck, I bet the car’s pink slip a few times ‘cause I had no money, and let me tell ya, when I did that, ponies went WILD. They ALL wanted that car. None of ‘em ever got it, but I did get some of their rides.” Swift laughed.

“Sounds like yu’re quite the racer, city slicker,” Swift said. “Any real big wins I should know ‘bout?”

“Oh, there’s plenty, believe me,” Silver said. “First one I should mention is that with that 240SX I SPANKED a Bugatti Veyron.” Swift nearly choked on his own saliva in astonishment at this.

“Ya WHAT?!”

“You heard me.” Silver grinned like a cat, and Swift just shook his head, barely containing his laughter.

“Yu’re even crazier than I thought. Racin’ Celestia-dang supercars with a little four banger of a motor…”

“Correction. The RB26 is a straight sixer. And that thing was mean as fuck, trust me. Looked mean, sounded mean, raced mean…”

“Right, right. Sorry, don’t know these thangs like ya do.”

“As I noticed.” Silver chuckled. “You wouldn’t have lasted a second up in Baltimare. Everypony I raced there only drove tuners, and if you didn’t know anything about them, they shunned the hell out of you.”

“What’d ya race with back when you were thar?”

“That GSR. 1993 Acura Integra GSR. Swapped a Nissan SR20DET motor into that one, converted it to rear wheel drive and tuned the hell out of it. Nopony saw that comin’; little rear wheel drive Integra tearing up the competition.”

“Y’know, yu’re makin’ it sound like yu’re perfect mechanic material.”

“Heh, that’s not all I can do. I mean, yeah, when it comes to mechanics, cars are all I know, but I’m an oddball character. I can fit in pretty much wherever you throw me and you give me a job and I’ll do it to the best of my abilities.” The train jolted slightly, and the whistle sounded, letting everypony aboard know that their journey was nearly over. Silver groaned in pain at the jolt.

“Ya okay?” Swift asked.

“Y’know, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say no,” Silver said, chuckling slightly. “I mean, I’ve got a busted leg and a gash in my side that’s probably gonna need a lot of stitches.”

“Yu’re probably right on that one, pardner,” Swift said. “But if yu’re as infamous as ya say ya are, then goin’ to a hospital ain’t an option… S’pose I might be able to get Nurse Redheart down to my place. Gonna be a long shot though.”

“Trust me; you tell a nurse or doctor how hurt a pony is, they’ll come running to help,” Silver replied.

“I’ll take yur word for it,” Swift said. “Yu’ve probably had more experience with this sort of thang than me.”

“Oh, trust me, I have,” Silver said, feeling the train slowing drastically; it was nearly at the station. “Hell, I could probably be a doctor myself at this point. I’ve seen so many different injuries… broken bones, gashes, burns, concussions, literally just about everything you can imagine. And I’ve helped treat it all.” The train then jolted slightly as it came to a stop, and Silver gritted his teeth through the pain this time. Swift looked out the nearby window and saw that the platform of Ponyville Station was right outside, and he smirked.

“Well, this is where we get off,” Swift said. “I ain’t runnin’ this train the rest of the day, and anypony tries to get me, I ain’t comin’.” Silver chuckled softly and rose slowly off of the bed, Swift assisting him as he stood.

“Alright, let’s get off this giant metal piece of shit,” Silver remarked as the two began to walk down the aisle of the train car and to the open door where they could get off.

“Don’t say that ‘bout my trains, pardner,” Swift replied.

“I’m just saying it because the first time I was on a train, it caused me horrible pain,” Silver responded. “And this was my first train ride.”

“Sorry it couldn’t have been more pleasant, pardner,” Swift said. The two exited the train car and immediately everypony on the platform backed away as they saw Swift nearly carrying Silver, whose fur was no longer silver but rather a creamy white from blood loss. Silver looked around at the ponies at the platform; many of them were staring straight at him, and he just sighed slightly.

“Swift!” somepony shouted; the voice was that of a mare with the same country drawl as Swift had. Silver looked in the direction of the voice as a young, orange cream colored mare with freckles in a triangular pattern and a blond mane and tail, the former of which was covered slightly by a Stetson hat nearly identical to Swift’s own, ran to the blue stallion, coming to a stop as soon as she saw Silver. “What the hay? What’s happenin’ ‘ere, Swift?”

“Ah, this city slicker got all busted up runnin’ from some bad ponies,” Swift said. “I’m takin’ him back to my place. Could ya do me a favor, AJ?”

“Sure thang, Swift,” the mare replied. “What is it?”

“Can ya run and grab Nurse Redheart or one of the doctors from the hospital and bring ‘em to my place?” Swift asked her. “This guy ‘ere don’t want to go to any hospital, and he ain’t budgin’ on that.”

“Gotcha,” the mare replied, giving Silver an odd look.

“Thank ya, Applejack,” Swift said, quickly kissing the mare on the lips. She returned the kiss and blushed slightly before running off again. The two stallions made their way off of the platform and through the station out to the main part of Ponyville, where two cars and a taxi sat; the taxi was being pulled by a local pony. Silver looked at the two cars; one of them was a red 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R SpecV, which Silver ogled at for a few moments with a look of pleasure on his face.

“That your ride?” Silver asked Swift, pointing to the Sentra. Swift looked at it and snorted.

“Nah, that little riceburner ain’t mine,” Swift responded, hurting Silver’s pride a tiny bit. “That big red beauty over thar is mine.” Swift swung his head in the direction of the other car, and Silver looked at it. The car was a mint condition 1966 Ford Mustang GT coupe, and though Silver wasn’t too big on muscle cars himself, he did have to admit that this one looked very good.

“Not bad,” Silver remarked as he and Swift walked towards it, Swift nearly carrying him at this point as Silver had lost most of his energy. “Not bad at all.” Swift looked over at Silver, a concerned look in his eyes.

“Ya really do need help, pardner…,” Swift said.

“I know…,” Silver replied. “I don’t even know how much longer I’m gonna be able to keep myself conscious… I’m slipping now as it is…”

The two were nearly to the car as Silver said this, and within barely a second of getting the words out, Silver lost consciousness, slumping against the door of Swift’s car. Swift immediately began to panic, but he took a deep breath to calm himself and opened the door of his car, placing Silver into the passenger seat and buckling him in.

“Hang in thar, pardner… just hang in thar…,” Swift said as he ran to the driver’s side, jumped in and immediately started up the muscle car. He threw it into gear and roared away from the station, kicking up a cloud of dust larger than the train station itself.
-

Pain. Darkness. Feeling like general hell. Yeah, I remember this. It’s all old to me at this point…

The only thing that was new to me was a small throbbing pain in my left foreleg, as though a needle or something sharp was embedded in my skin. And a female voice.

“…extreme blood loss,” the voice was saying; my ears twitched involuntarily at the noise. “Not only that, but that leg of his may never fully heal properly without surgical procedures; he broke it in four places, which is nearly enough to declare it shattered. Ninety-five percent of ponies who have that sort of a break need at least a metal plate and several screws in their leg to keep the bone in place to heal properly, and that’s at the very minimum.”

“Well, I don’t know this pony all that well,” I heard a male voice say; there was no doubt it was Swift’s. “But I do know one thang; he’s stronger than anypony I’ve ever known. I know he don’t need no metal plate or screws in his leg, and he definitely ain’t goin’ in for surgery. He ain’t even goin’ to the hospital. You give me the thangs I need, I’ll take care of him and ya can come down and check on him every couple days or so. Ya can bring a doctor with ya, if ya want.” I heard the female sigh.

“Alright,” she said. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Mr. Gearheart.”

“Please, ya can call me Swift,” Swift said.

“Of course. Would you mind if I stayed here until he wakes up?”
“Nah, ya can stay ‘ere. Sorry ‘bout the clutter though; bein’ a mechanic makes a lot of it.” I heard two sets of hooves walk out of the room, and I finally opened my eyes and took in my surroundings.

I was in a tiny room, lying on my back on a bed. The lights were on, though they were dimmed greatly so as to provide little light so that I wouldn’t have been woken up, I assumed. My leg was properly casted now and elevated above me, and the pain was much less intense than it had been before, though I could feel the familiar sting of having stitches in my side where the gash was. My assumption was that I had passed out, and while I was out Swift had taken me back to his house and gotten proper medical aid. I then heard hooves coming up a set of stairs and then down the hallway towards the room I was in.
“Ya awake, Silv?” Swift said as he stuck his head into the room.

“Yeah…,” Silver replied, his voice tired and strained. “What the hell happened?”

“Ya passed out,” Swift said. “I brought ya back ‘ere as fast as my car could go and AJ got a doctor and Nurse Redheart over ‘ere to help ya out. They got all them fancy thangs hooked up to ya…” Silver looked to his right and saw a few bags filled with liquid, one of them being blood and another IV fluid, attached to a metal pole. Several small tubes went into a few needles that were in Silver’s right foreleg, essentially feeding the fluids and such into his body through a vein.

“Should’ve known,” Silver groaned. “So they didn’t identify me, right? Y’know, as a criminal or anything?”

“Nah, they didn’t,” Swift replied. “’Round ‘ere, we don’t get hardly any news ‘bout the big cities and whatnot. I think the only real place we get any news ‘bout is Canterlot, and thar’s no way anypony’s heard about what happened there with ya yet, considerin’ it only happened today…”

“Good,” Silver replied, closing his eyes again and sighing softly. “So what’s the damage report on me?”

“Well, that gash has forty-three stitches in it,” Swift started. “Ya lost a lot of blood because of it and ya were pretty close to bleedin’ out. Then that leg o’ yurs was busted in four places; they keep sayin’ they need ya to go in for surgery to put the bone back in place correctly…”

“Aw, hell,” Silver groaned. “I hate surgery…”

“Ya mean ya had it before?” Swift asked.

“Just once…,” Silver replied. “It was a long time ago… Just thinking about it still makes me shiver.”

“What’d ya go in for?” Swift inquired.

“Well, when I was little, I wrecked on my skateboard when I was out skating with some of my friends,” Silver replied. “I absolutely screwed up my shoulder; basically dislocated it. We tried to pop it back into place, but we couldn’t do it, so they went in there and threw it back in place during surgery. Recovery sucked, by the way…”

“I can imagine,” Swift replied.

“Anyway… if they say I need surgery, I hate the idea, but I’ll do it…,” Silver replied. “What’d they say would happen if I don’t have any?”

“Might never be able to walk again…,” Swift answered. “They kept sayin’ that some crazy high percent of ponies don’t walk again from that kind of injury without havin’ some ridiculous thangs put in thar to hold the bone in place as it heals, and sometimes even after it’s healed…” Silver sighed in exasperation and threw his head back into the pillow.

“Well, shit,” Silver remarked. “Let’s just get going and get it over with…”

“Alright,” Swift said. “I’ll go tell Nurse Redheart that yu’re awake.” Silver nodded as Swift walked out of the room.

Surprised that I used to skate? Well, you shouldn’t be. It was one of the best things that I used to do before cars really came into my life. I mean, yeah, when my dad used to have his little Honda Del Sol I worked on that thing all the time with him. And he was always telling me that he should have just let me work on it by myself for a few days and see what I could’ve done with it in that span of time.

But of course, as with everything else in Manehattan, that was ruined. The only things left in Manehattan that haven’t been ruined are my 240SX and my old skateboard, and that’s literally it. I haven’t spoken with my family in over two years and the ponies that really started this whole gigantic shitty mess that I call my life have probably forgotten that my family and I even exist.
“Good to see that you pulled through,” a female voice said. Silver looked towards the door where it had come from, and he saw Swift standing in hallway just outside the door with a white mare with a pink mane and tail who adorned a small visor-like cap with a red cross on it. She stepped into the room, walking to Silver’s bedside. “I was never able to get your name. Mainly because I forgot to ask Swift for it.” Silver managed a weak chuckle.

“Silver Flare,” Silver told her. She turned to the bedside table and scribbled it down on a piece of paper.

“I’m Nurse Redheart,” the nurse replied. “Age and date of birth?”

“December 22,” Silver answered. “Eighteen years old.” Once again, Nurse Redheart wrote down the information.

“Do you live on your own?” Nurse Redheart asked him.

“Yeah,” Silver said. “Been moving around a lot though…”

“Do you have any family nearby whom I can notify of your condition or that you would like me to?” Silver shook his head. “Parents?”

“Can I ask you a question?” Silver asked in response. “Why are you asking me all of this?”

“It’s for medical record purposes only,” Nurse Redheart answered. “It won’t be released to anyone except hospital staff unless absolutely necessary.”

“Alright,” Silver said. “My parents are Bright Flash and Sunbeam Radiance.” She nodded and wrote that down on the paper as well.

“And I’m going to guess that you don’t want me to notify them?” she asked.

“No,” Silver replied.

“May I ask why?” Silver looked at the mare with a look on his face that said “Do I have to tell you?” She looked right back with an expression that read “Yes.” Silver sighed.

“I haven’t talked with them in a long time,” Silver replied. “Things went sour a long time ago and the last I talked to them was two years ago…” Nurse Redheart’s eyes widened but she didn’t question further.

“And how did you sustain these injuries?” she asked.

“Car accident,” Silver replied. “Big rollover…”

“Well that explains the laceration that you had…,” she said. “But it’s very uncommon to see a leg broken that badly from a car accident, especially around here.”

“The leg was because I was running from some bad ponies and I had to jump roof to roof to get away,” Silver informed her. “And the second roof didn’t hold up too well.” She nodded and scribbled that down on her information sheet as well.

“Where and when did this accident take place?” Nurse Redheart asked.

“That’s confidential,” Silver replied. She looked at him, and he stared right back.

“Alright,” she said. “Now you are aware that your leg is most likely going to require surgery to make sure it properly heals?”

“Yeah,” Silver said. “If it does, whatever… do what you have to. I’m not losing that leg.”

“You won’t lose it if we don’t do surgery, but there will be pain for the rest of your life, as well as the possibility that it may not heal fully and you might not have full use of it…”

“Spare me the fine print and just put me out, take me to the hospital and get it over with,” Silver said. He then realized that what he’d said had been rather rude. “Sorry. Just please do what you have to.” The nurse nodded.

“I’ll call an ambulance right away.” She walked back out of the room and down the hallway, leaving Swift and Silver alone.

“Ya lied,” Swift said bluntly.

“Kinda had to,” Silver replied. “If I hadn’t, she would’ve known what really happened and I would already be getting shipped off to jail. No thanks.”

“Guess thar’s nothin’ I can do ‘bout yur lyin’, then,” Swift said, sighing.

“Listen,” Silver replied, causing Swift to look his way. “Either the day I get caught or the day I know I’m safe, I’ll tell you exactly why I’ve been running. Preferably the second one.”

“Why can’t ya just tell me right now?” Swift asked. “Yu’re safe ‘ere, Ponyville ain’t a place where ponies blab about everythin’… scratch that, Rarity does from time ta time.”

“Who’s Rarity?” Silver asked in response. Swift chuckled slightly.

“Ya really ain’t from ‘round ‘ere if ya don’t know that,” Swift said. “She’s the local diva, basically. The mare that showed up at the train station with the ponytail and beautiful body was her friend Applejack.”

“Oh, so you and this Applejack chick have a thing, huh?” Silver asked, smirking. “Heh, must be pretty good.”

“Oh, it’s perfect,” Swift said. They both looked to the door as hoofsteps neared it, and Nurse Redheart stuck her head in the doorway for a moment.

“The ambulance is on its way,” she informed them. “It’ll be here in about five minutes or so.” The two nodded and thanked her for telling them, and she walked back down the hallway, leaving them alone again.

“Well, if it’s perfect, have ya gotten a little… well, y’know,” Silver said, smirking. Swift raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t follow ya,” Swift replied. Silver sighed, smacking his hoof against his face.

“Have you two done it yet?” Silver asked bluntly. “Y’know, made love? Had sex? Done the deed? Hopped on the good hoof and done the bad thing?” Swift blushed a deep hue of purple after hearing Silver use all of these terms, holding back awkward chuckles as he responded.

“Uh, no, not yet,” Swift said. “I just don’t wanna do anythin’ she don’t wanna do.” Silver nodded.

“Seems like a good approach, actually,” Silver said. “Nothing to be ashamed of, either; I’m a pretty crazy guy who’s seen and done a lot of stupid shit, but I’m still a virgin too.” Swift’s blush deepened, and he looked at Silver with a small, amused smirk on his face.

“Yu’re really blunt, ain’t ya?” Swift said, chuckling slightly as he felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Silver just smirked in response.

“What can I say?” Silver asked in response. “Being born in a city, raised there for fifteen years and then running for three more in three other cities and living with street racers made me a perv. Plus, I dated a mare for a bit that was a perv…”

“Oh really?” Swift asked. “What was her name?” Silver was about to speak, but Nurse Redheart then walked in with two other ponies, both adorning hospital-type clothing.

“Here he is, doctor,” Nurse Redheart said to one of the ponies. “I have all of his information written down for you.” She hoofed the paper she had been writing down all of Silver’s info on to the doctor, and he looked it over for a moment before nodding and giving it back to Nurse Redheart.

“Give him a sedative,” the doctor said. “Put him out long enough to where he won’t remember a thing and we can get the surgery done as quickly as possible; I can tell just by looking at him that he’ll be eager to get out of the hospital after the surgery.” Silver smirked.

“You got that right,” he remarked, and the doctor chuckled.

“Figured as much,” the doctor replied. “I’m Dr. Knit. We’re going to put you to sleep now, but by the time you wake up, that leg will be ready to start healing up properly and you won’t remember a thing about the surgery. Okay?” Silver nodded. “Miss Redheart, please give him his sedative now.” Nurse Redheart nodded and walked to Silver’s bedside, pulling a small pill out of a pouch on her saddlebag and giving it to Silver. Silver placed the pill in his mouth and quickly swallowed, and almost as soon as he had taken it he began to feel drowsy and lethargic. As he began to close his heavy eyelids, he looked over at Swift.

“Hey, Swift?” Silver asked drowsily as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness.

“Yeah?” Swift asked in response, looking at Silver.

“…Thanks,” Silver managed, and he then closed his eyes, slipping into unconsciousness. Swift chuckled softly.

“Yu’re welcome, Silv,” he responded quietly. “Yu’re welcome.” He then assisted the doctor and the nurses in lifting Silver from the bed and placing him on a stretcher before walking out with them to the ambulance and placing Silver inside. “Good luck, pardner.” He shut one door, and the EMT with the doctor climbed in and shut the other as the siren of the ambulance sounded and it tore away from Swift’s home, speeding towards the hospital.

Comments

[SilverFlare11]

6921473 Haha, thanks! XD I'm honestly quite proud of this story so far. I'm glad you enjoy it! :D