A/N: And the third chapter! Hope you all can make sense of the previous ones, as they were just fillers. I needed something to lead up to this chapter, and even though the other two were short, they will get longer:) Please review!
Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable characters, they belong to Disney/Pixar.
The next morning came quickly, and Talia was up before Luigi or Guido, which normally didn't happen. She threw her silver t-shirt on, yanked her jeans on, and raced out of the house.
She didn't bother shutting the door quietly this time. She was far to excited to get a better look at this new arrival.
She rushed down the road towards Flo's, where she saw Flo and Sheriff talking. She slowed down, and stopped next to Sheriff.
He flicked an ear in her direction, but other than that he didn't acknowlegde that she was there. She put her hand on his black and white shoulder, and waited for the two to stop talking before asking her question.
"Have you guys seen Doc anywhere?"
"Last I saw him he was at his clinic," Sheriff looked over in her direction, "Looked like he was busy with something."
She smirked. She knew exactly what he was busy with.
She took off again towards Doc's clinic, yelling her thanks to Sheriff.
She slowed down as she turned the corner facing Doc's clinic. She saw the same horse from the night before tied up to a post, with Doc no where in sight.
She stopped and looked the horse over. She nearly flinched at the sight of him. He seemed no more than seven months old. As she had seen the night before, he was all skin and bone, she saw no muscle on him, no ounce of fat. His hip bones, ribs, neck and even his spine showed.
From what Doc had taught her, he had at least several minor diseases and possibly pneumonia. She didn't even know how he was still standing, from how sick he looked.
At that moment, Doc came out of the clinic. The other colt - in daylight she could tell he was a colt, and he wasn't gelded - threw his head up, eyes rolling back a bit as he threw himself sideways and backwards, trying to get away.
Talia frowned. She hadn't seen a horse react like that to anyone since... ever.
She heard Doc talking to him in that gentle, sweet voice that he used when Sally, Mater or herself got hurt or were scared. It helped calmed them down a lot. And apparently, it worked with the colt as well.
It took a few moments of rambling absolute nonsense on Doc's part, but eventually the colt stopped his anxious prancing and pricked his ears towards Doc.
She heard him say something about shots as he went back inside his clinic. He came back out with the syringe.
The colt stared at him, shifting and ears flicking, nervously blowing through his nostrils.
"It's alright Lightning, it'll help you. I promise."
The colt, apparently named Lightning, pricked his ears as Doc slowly approached him. He was tense, but he let Doc get near enough to poke the needle through his skin.
Lightning almost violently flinched away, but Doc was skilled enough to not let the needle move. When Lightning stopped moving, he quickly injected the medicine and took the needle out.
Lightning took a few steps sideways as Doc told him, "There ya go. Should help relieve some of that pain."
She watched for a few more minutes as Doc tried to rinse Lightning off, but he only kept moving sideways and thrashing. So to stop him from possibly hurting himself, he stopped.
She watched as Doc filled up a bucket with water. He looked deep in thought, and she knew the look. He was thinking of a plan to help the colt as much as he could, and she had a feeling she somehow would be involved with that. She always was.
She watched as Doc gave Lightning the bucket, and he downed the water in about a minute flat. He acted like he hadn't had water in months.
After that, Doc made him some warm bran mash of sorts. He pushed that bucket of food over to Lightning, and once again he ate it in about a minute. She saw Doc frown again as he went and got about four slices of hay for Lightning.
He filled up the bucket of water again, and let Lightning be alone. He walked back into his clinic, and Talia decided it was the best moment to leave him alone as well.
Doc seemed busy, and as much as she wanted to know more about this colt, she knew it wasn't the right time. She could always ask later, but right now she felt her own stomach growling.
She made her way back over to Flo's. As she walked into the cafe, she saw Mater and Sally at their usual table near the back. She smiled and walked over to them.
Sally was the first to see her. "Where have you been?"
She decided it was best to not say anything about Lightning for now. She sat on a stool before answering.
"I was taking a walk to see where the best spot to hide was for Doc's party."
Sally and Mater seemed to believe her. Flo soon brought over their breakfasts. Talia's was two pieces of toast with jelly and bacon. Maters and Sally's were buckets of about one scoop of grain and some added vitamins each.
As Mater and Sally talked amongst themselves, she was left to daydream about what new things would come with having Lightning around. He needed a lot of help, and it would take a lot of time to gain his trust. And if Doc wanted to have her ride him, it would take a lot more time.
She hoped that Doc had a plan. Because she had no idea how she'd handle this situation. To her, he looked far to broken down to be worth saving.
But then she remembered, Doc wouldn't pick him if he hadn't seen something in him. She was left wondering what he could do, and what he would do.
A/N: Please bear with me with some of these details. Just use your imagnination on how Doc or Flo fill up the buckets. I think they use their teeth, but however you want to think that happens:) If any of you don't know what bran mash is, it's just a treat like food for horses but it also helps clear their guts out, and sometimes it's given in the winter as a warm meal. Please review! Also, thank you to 'Sea1714' and 'Guest' for leaving a review!! It's very encouraging :D! And these chapters will get longer as the plot develops;) Till next time!