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// A Familiar Face 
// Story: For Forgiveness 
// by sarcastictrixie 
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Trixie roused to the nauseating sensation of her body being jostled. As her eyes meagerly cracked open, she saw the dirt beneath her shifting, in spite of the lack of movement in her legs. It was all a dizzy blur and she struggled to hold back the bile that rose in her throat. Her body hurt too much to struggle, or even to lift her head which was weighed down by an obscene migraine. Yet, somehow, she still seemed to be moving. The pains lead her to pant, and with each rasp of breath, a warming scent found its way into her nostrils: apples.

The familiarity was almost unsettling.

In the moments before slipping out of consciousness, a fizzle of ginger fur swarmed her fading sight, and the drowned sound of speech echoed in her ears. Through her mostly lidded eyes and obstructing eyelashes, she could see the hooves that carried her were of a deep orange; whoever found her was taking her somewhere. This pony was so familiar, but she deeply doubted it would be who she thought it was. With her abhorrent personality, she doubted any pony would really want to help her, but more specifically, she was rancid to a particular group. As she strained to tilt her head, she saw the bounce of a tied blonde mane.

It was Applejack.

Though completely maladaptive, and driven largely by sudden panic, Trixie began to struggle. As soon as she started kicking those blue furred legs, the burning of her muscles made her feel like she would vomit. She just managed to hold it down, and that sensation dampened as she kept kicking and struggling. Her panting was getting a lot louder, to a point that she could barely hear the mare carrying her telling her to knock it off. When the magician refused to relent, Applejack came to a halt.

“What the hell are y’all fussin’ about? Calm yourself down!”
“Put me down, you- you-,” Short of breath, she was struggling to argue, “You pony-napper you! The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn’t…”
“I’ll just give ya a sec to get your breath back.” As she slid the azure furred pony onto the ground, she was surprised when she sat up and snorted assertively at her.
“T-The Great and Powerful Trixie… D-Doesn’t need help from some farm pony like you. She would have been just fine by herself!”
“Now, Trix, as much as I’d love ta argue with ya about this, I feel that ain’t gonna help us. Y’all ain’t fit for takin’ a stroll down to the shops, let alone livin’ it rough.”
“Trixie would be fine.” She grumbled. It was easy to tell that all she was doing was trying to save face, avoiding seeming weak in front of a pony as noble and brave as Applejack.

“I’m not too sure why, but I gotta say, I disagree.” With a gentle nudge, she tried to get Trixie to stand up, “Try ta walk, would ya?”
It seemed that, despite her legs aching and bowing, the blue magician could just about manage to move on her own four hooves. This seemed to make her feel a bit more confident, but even she knew she wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long. Though Trixie gave an angry snort about it, the farmer moved against her side, so she could lean on her.
“Come on, Sugarcube, let’s get y’all to some place safe before you get more chewed up by Timberwolves than ya already are.”
“Where are you even taking me?” Her head was turned away as she spoke, as she still felt undignified and malcontented.

She balked at the reply.
“I’m takin’ y’all back with me ta Sweet Apple Acres. You know I’m not ya biggest fan, but I couldn’t live with maself if I let ya die out here.”
“But nobody wants me in Ponyville!” Her own sudden halt made her slam down into the mud, where she lay and whined, “I can’t go back there!” She’d dropped the third person personality; it was redundant when she was barely worth a penny.
“Y’all haven’t got a choice Trix. Ya can’t even get yourself outta the dirt.” Applejack lifted her up onto her back again, and began her way back towards her home, “I’ll keep ya in the barn for now, since we ain’t currently got a spare room. When you’re feelin’ a little bit better, ya can help me out with chores.”
“It’s like you’re punishing me.”
“You’re hardly a saint; I can’t say you don’t half deserve it.”
“I guess you’re not entirely wrong,” She was in too bad condition for it to be worthwhile arguing her condition. “I suppose I’ll have to put up with it.”

A proud smile couldn’t help but find its way to the farmer’s snout, and she picked up her pace a little bit. It was getting darker, as the night was swallowing up the day rapidly. It was fortunate that they were on the edges of the Everfree Forest now, and the blessing of the dark was that few ponies were out, and those few ponies would barely be able to see them. The brisker trot Applejack moved at was starting to make Trixie feel more sore, which she expressed by pulling on the blonde mane quite roughly. She was promptly returned to the floor.
“We’ll walk at your pace if y’all’re gonna just pull on my hair.”
“You were going too fast…” It looked like she was disappointed, but she forced her weak legs to walk towards the farm.

After what felt like hours for the pair of them, the barn was in sight, and soon enough, they closed in on it. The ginger pony lead the other to a spare stall, where they’d normally keep pregnant cows. Spreading fresh hay down with an efficiency earned through years of cattle working, she gestured Trixie to lie down on it. Reluctantly, she followed the order, and made a slow move to lie on her side, which felt only just slightly more comfortable than any other position. Her wounds were getting slightly sticky, having begun to bleed again as they made their way to the farm, but it would have to wait until morning to be sorted.

“Hold on here for a sec’, I’ll just run and grab ya some blankets and pillows.”
 Grudgingly, the cerulean furred magician lay sill, looking out the open doors at the now clear sky. Moonlight drifted in and sprawled out over the floorboards, its source full and bright this evening. Trixie slumped her head down into the straw, and she could feel herself drifting off within seconds. A ringing in her ears struck, but she tried desperately to ignore it. The only interruption to her homemade white noise was the scurries of mice about the stalls, and the occasional cow or sheep call from the paddocks. It didn’t take long for all the noises to merge, and eventually cease as she fell asleep in the scattered bale.

Of course, when Applejack arrived, she lightheartedly rolled her eyes at the dozy equine sprawled out. With a meticulous tenderness, she laid a fluffy blanket over top of Trixie, and lifted her head up as gently as possible to put a pillow under it. Bar a quiet snort, she didn’t seem to stir. Giving her a light nuzzle on the cheek – an action she never really expected to deliver to the typically pretentious unicorn – she whispered a goodnight in her ear. Concerned of an overnight expiry, Applejack moved to lie under her own blanket she brought, and settled down near the poorly pony for the night. Everything about this felt so odd, but there was little else she could do. The honest mare just had to hope her friends wouldn’t find this all out; there was no way they’d be pleased to see Trixie again so soon.