//------------------------------// // Everypony Deserves a Second Chance // Story: The Unlikley Sanctuary // by Tie RoamingHooves //------------------------------// Trixie was exhausted, and thirsty but after a day's walk she had arrived at the edge of the forest. To her surprise, she saw the place of her greatest shame; Ponyville was in the distance. She didn't want to have to show her face there again, but due to the circumstances, it was mandatory. The past two months have humbled the mare by leaps and bounds. She was no longer the boastful self-righteous mare she used to be. The only problem was that nopony else knew that. She was on the edge of an apple orchard. She could use something that wasn't grass or wild berries for a change. She was thinking of just taking them but saw a farm house in the distance and extinguished any thought of the sort. She wasn't going to steal any more. She was different than who she used to be. Frankly her old self disgusted her. She decided the best way to do acquire apples was to ask. She left the treeline and walked to the road leading to the apple farm. She then noticed strange creatures and the Royal Guard were there as well as the Princess. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going and tripped over a hole in the path landing flat on her face, knocking her out cold. "Oh my fucking god, this is delicious!" Daniel exclaimed eating the apple in ten seconds flat. No, really. I counted; Ten... Seconds... Flat... and the apple was gone. "Captain I think I know what on the menu for dinner tonight." "And what might that be?" he said knowingly. "Apples. We need shit ton of apples." "I think you find we already have them." "Well in that case... MEN! HELP YOURSELVES TO SOME APPLES. I WILL LET YOU KNOW NOW THAT THESE ARE THE BEST GODDAMN APPLES YOU WELL EVER HAVE EATEN IN YOUR LIVES." he bellowed getting a mixed response from the platoon. After a while they started letting out grunts of approval. (Can't really describe the "Mmmm" sound so grunts were the next best thing. I would have said moan but that sounds sexual.) "Hold on a gosh darn second!" Applejack said coming up to Daniel who just looked at her unimpressed by her anger. "Who told ya'll that ya can jus go on and help ya selves ta my apples?!" she finished stamping a hoof on the ground at a still very unimpressed Daniel. "The Princess did." He deadpanned effectively shutting up the angry mare. "Fine then, take my apples." she said angrily but defeated. I then spotted Lyra running over to me with a fearful expression on her face. "Hey, Lyra what's wrong?" "Rainbow Dash was leaving but she found somepony on the road unconscious." she says quickly. "Come on." Lyra pulled me to the gate and on the road where several soldiers were standing around as well as Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight. "I'm here someone tell me what's up... wait is that Trixie?" "Yes. Nopony knows what happened to her but she looks awful." Twilight said looking at her. "Yeah, looks like karma got her pretty good." Rainbow said indifferently, obviously not feeling sorry for the mare. "What do we do with her?" Fluttershy asked softly. "Hey, the humvees are about to take off with the wounded. We could put her in one and take her down." an anonymous soldier in the back suggested. "Great idea. I will go with them so I can direct them to the hospital. I also have some questions for Trixie." Twilight said. "I might head to the hospital too. I have a couple things I need to take care of up there anyways." I say getting a look from Twilight. "I want to thank the doctor who helped patch up Jake when he was taken to the hospital. I also want to see if Nurse Redheart is ok. I apologized for Jake's behavior but she was pretty shaken by it." I tell her. I was really wanting to see what happened to Trixie after she left Ponyville. Back on Earth I had seen a lot of fan-art depicting a sad or misunderstood Trixie. "I'll carry her back too the farm before the humvees take the wounded." I pick up the unconscious wreck of a unicorn. She was much lighter than I expected. She must have been through a lot. Her mane was a mess, her coat was matted and pale. I didn't want anypony to give her shit after this. I will make sure of it. If she is the same boastful Trixie she was in the episode "Boast Busters", I try to change her outlook. If she doesn't change, at least I can say I tried. I walked into Sweet Apple Acres with Trixie in my arms and went to the nearest humvee. Applejack walked over while I was looking for one with enough space to accommodate me and an unconscious Trixie. "What in tartarus is that mare doin' on my property?" she asked, distrust and hate evident judging by her tone. "She was found unconscious on the road not far from here. Don't worry she will be off your property quickly. I know all about the fiasco with the Ursa Minor-" "First of all, I'm gonna stop ya there sugarcube. The Ursa Minor wasn't her fault to begin with." she began. "Secondly, don't be goin' around actin' like ya know me cause ya don't... or at least not in person. I don't like her cause she went and tied me up with my rope. Not to mention she did things to my friends too. Thats all I'm gonna say about that." "I'm sorry. I didn't mean like that Applejack." "HEY KID HURRY UP AND GET IN OR WERE LEAVING YOU BEHIND!" "Sorry Applejack but I need to go." I say plainly while stepping into the back of the middle humvee. Only three were needed for the ten injured men. Six able bodied soldiers were to accompany them during there stay at the hospital. The line of vehicles started to move. I assumed Twilight was inside the lead humvee because we arrived to our destination quickly. The staff of the hospital must have been notified of us because they were outside waiting for us and as soon as we arrived they the staff had started to unload the wounded with the help of the six healthy soldiers. They were placed on hospital beds which were designed with ponies in mind meaning the beds were a little small for the soldiers but would have to suffice. The injuries they sported varied from a broken bone to gunshot wounds. One of them had their legs crushed, obviously from being stepped on by the hydra. I stepped out and had to carry Trixie in as they were not told about the unconscious pony. I walked in seeing various medical ponies running to and from performing their jobs and helping with the wounded. I flagged down a doctor. He was a light brown unicorn with grey hair and a mustache of the same color wearing a lab coat and glasses. I opened my mouth to speak but stopped me pointing a hoof to an empty room to my left as if he knew what I was going to say. "How did you know what I was about to say?" I ask while walking in setting Trixie down in the bed. The doctor followed me in and got to work checking Trixie's vitals. "I'm a doctor. I've seen it all and this is no different than any busy day. Besides you got an unconscious unicorn in your arms, what else could you have asked?" he said. "Thanks I suppose. Hey, I mean no offense when I ask this but why is nopony scared of any of us?" "Oh, when the first one came in two days ago all the staff got a chance to look at him. We even had time to study his anatomy will he was unconscious. So I guess we just know what to expect. Also when he woke up, he was more scared of us than we were of him which meant he couldn't have been much of a threat. Oh, I've forgot to introduce myself. My name is Urgent Care." 'Damn these pony names' I think to myself. "Nice to meet you Dr. Care, I'm Tyrin Roberson." I say. "So Doc, how is she?" "She is fine for the most part. She is a bit malnourished but other than that she should be fine. Can you tell me what happened to her?" "No actually. She was found near Sweet Apple Acres like this half an hour ago." "Hmm... We'll find out when she wakes up. Excuse me I have to go check on another patient." he said looking out the door. "As you can see we are pretty busy." "No problem. Thanks Doc." I say watching him walking out. It was just me and Trixie now. I had time to kill and I was kind of tired so I might as well catch up on some sleep. I sat in the corner a set my backpack and rifle down and sat in the corner. I've seen MLP so many times I've memorized them to the point to where I can watch any episode in my head. I close my eyes and let my memories play season 2 episode 20: "It's About Time". I mentally watched it until I drifted of into sleep. "Bro, you should have seen the on your face!" Tyler said holding his sides and laughing. "Shut the fuck up!" Jake yelled getting up and walking away pissed off at him. "Come on Jake you can't say that wasn't funny!" I say to him. "Funny?! That was fucking hilarious!" Tyler said between fits of laughter. It was sometime around the beginning of June. Tyler had hidden Jake's SV98 and he told him he had lost it in the woods. He believed him and searched the woods for two hours straight. When he had came back the rifle had been placed next to his seat. He was for lack of a better word, PISSED. We had continued laughing when Josh had returned with his back pack unusually larger than normal. "Bro, you will never guess what I found in the concession stand at the baseball diamond up the street." "What?" I say wanting to know. "Guess." "Come on, just tell me so I can get on with my life." "No, just guess." "Augh, fine." I looked at his backpack intently trying to figure out what he could have possibly found. "Is it a box." "Well, yes and no." "Come on bro. This isn't 20 Questions." "It is now." "Fuck you man." "Fine, I'll tell you. You are going to be so freakin' happy." he said pulling out a 24-pack of Mountain Dew. "No. Fucking. Way." "Christ! Is that what I think it is?!" Tyler yelled no longer laughing. "I know, right? I found this thing stashed in a cabinet. You want one?" he asked pulling out a can. "Fuck yeah." Tyler said catching a can. "Do you even have to ask?" Josh tossed a can my way and I opened it with my two front teeth like I always did. I drank the pop and savored the now somewhat flat tasting pop. It still was carbonated but lacked the sting of the fresh stuff. "Hey Jake, you want some Mountain Dew?!" I yell. "Are you shitting me?! No way!" Jake yelled setting his rifle down and running over, grabbing a can, and opening it and enjoying it with the rest of us. Its times like this that I've always thought times like these were always bound to end with something ruining it. But for the first time since the beginning of this war, it was a moment I got to enjoy for the fullest. That day we sat around a case of Mountain Dew and drank it all telling jokes and reliving the past. What more could you ask for in this world like this. But the moment soon had to end. A jet flew low over the treetops and knocked me to the ground. I woke up smiling at the dream. I looked up to see Trixie was awake staring at me with an expression of primal fear. I decided an introduction was in order. "I see your awake then. You had everypony pretty scared when we found you. My name is Tyrin and I carried you here." Her expression of fear eased up a bit but it was still there. "W-what are you?" "Well, I thought one of the hospital staff would have told you by now but I guess not. I am a human. Trixie you don't need to be scared of me. I won't hurt you, you have nothing to fear from me or the others." "I'll take your word for it. I want to thank you for carrying me here. I appreciate it." "It seems like you've changed since the Ursa Minor incident." The fear on her face vanished and one of offense and sincerity took its place. "I guess news travels fast." she said chuckling darkly. "Trust me when I say that I have changed a lot since that shameful day." "That's good to hear. He if you don't mind me asking what happened to you?" "I was lost in the woods for two months. I saw smoke rising one night and followed it to here." she said. I gave her a look of pity. "I don't need your pity. I've lived without anypony taking pity on me for months so I don't need you to start." "You don't even know how much easier you've made my job." "Oh and what is this job you speak of?" she asked raising a brow. "I'm going to help mend your wounds with Ponyville. Trixie was taken back by this. A complete stranger, let alone an alien wanted to help her while nopony in all the places she'd been to would. "Why are you doing this for me?" "I can't stand to see anybody or anypony alienated for any reason. Not even somepony like you." "I-I don't know what to say." "Well you don't have to thank me. I would do this for anyone. Besides you are truly sorry for what you've done right?" I ask the mare in the hospital bed. Trixie simply nodded. "That is reason enough." "Thank you. I mean it. Thank you. "Your welcome. You really don't need to thank me at all. I believe everypony deserves a second chance."