Trixie watched Pennington grow increasingly nervous as Sweet Apple Acres appeared just down the road. She could see Applejack working out in the fields, just behind the fence, even within earshot. In a short flashback, Trixie grinned and chuckled at the memory of tying the proud pony by her hooves and stuffing an apple in her mouth. The smug memory helped to ease the sting of the fact that she was about to place herself subservient to the small-town farmer.
"Look, I'm guessing that as much as Applejack dislikes me, she dislikes you more... So let me do the talking." Pennington whispered to Trixie, walking up to the fence on his own and letting her linger behind.
"Howdy, AJ! How y'all doin' on this 'ere fine afternoon?" He spoke with a thick accent, mimicking her southern drawl almost perfectly. Trixie blinked with surprise at the well-done acting as he picked up a strand of grass and gently bit down on the end. His body seemed to relax out of its nervousness as he leaned against the fence, making him look as if he had grown up on the farm, rather than spent his life writing. He wouldn't be bad on the stage...
Applejack looked up from the basket of apples that she had just finished bucking at the sound of Pennington's voice, then scowled as she recognized the source.
"Whatever it is ya want, Penn, I ain't givin' it to ya!" She rolled her eyes and turned back to her apples. "And I know ya want somethin' or else you wouldn't actually be actin' civil for once!" She picked up the basket with a special saddle designed to hold one on each side and began to walk back towards the barn. "'sides, you'll only use that accent if you're trying to get somethin' from me!
"Okay, you got me, Applejack..." Pennington jumped over the fence, putting away his façade of accent and mannerisms as easily as he had put them on. "But I'm here with a business offer! One that would be mutually beneficial!"
"Ah don't wanna hear it, Penn..." Applejack replied, continuing to walk away.
"Oh, come on, AJ! Just listen to me for a minute! I'll even put it into small words for you..." Pennington jumped up into the trees, hopping from branch to branch above her, occasionally dropping another apple into the baskets. "Look, I have a friend who needs a job, and you can always use an extra set of hooves around the farm, right? She wouldn't want much pay because she's already staying at Inkwell Commissions and doesn't need any money for rent!"
"Don't you only have one bedroom?" Applejack interrupted, stopping to look up at the pony in the trees.
"Well, yeah, but come on, I sleep in my study most of the time, anyway!" Pennington chuckled.
Trixie blinked in surprise as she listened to the conversation. So... he gave me his room? His bed?
Applejack's brow furrowed in thought. "As much as ah hate to say it, we are a little behind today... Who's the pony?"
Pennington pointed a hoof back at Trixie, who was still standing in the road. "A pony who's changed a lot since-"
"NO." Applejack turned away again, taking an even faster pace. "Ah'm not gonna give that mare the time of day, let alone a job on mah farm with mah family!"
"Oh, come on, Applejack! You only have to talk to her to see that she's different now!" Pennington cried, jumping down in front of her from the trees.
"Penn, ah knew that you were low, hatin' your own family and all, but ah didn't think that ya would sink down to her level!"
"Now wait just a cotton-picking minute, Applejack!" Pennington cried, standing firm as she tried to shove her way past him. "First of all, I don't hate my family!"
"Oh, really?" Applejack snapped. "Really, Mr. 'I don't need anypony?' Mr. 'never come to a family reunion?' Mr. 'I'll never work on a farm if my life depended on it?' You've never come to a single family reunion, you never visit any of us 'cept your own parents, an' worst of all, you won't even acknowledge that we're related in public! So, cousin, I would recommend that you get offa this farm ya hate so much and get back to your little city-slicker sideways-tilted shack you call a 'business' and to your little life of independence! It wouldn't be the first time you turned your back on family!"
Trixie could hear every word of Applejack's onslaught from the street, and was trying her best to process everything that was being revealed about her host. So... Applejack really DOES hate him... And they're cousins?
"Aren't you that mean unicorn who tied up AJ in front of the whole town?" A small voice asked to her left. She looked over and saw a small yellow filly staring up at her with a large red bow in her matching mane.
"Well, yes..." Trixie muttered, doing her best to look sorry for the deed, despite the fact that she was having any kind of sympathy for the farmer right now. "My name is Trixie."
"Ah'm Apple Bloom!" The little filly flashed her a large smile, thoroughly confusing her. "It's nice to meet ya!"
"You don't hate me?" Trixie asked quietly.
"Well, ya never did anythin' to me!" Apple Bloom chimed. "AJ had me stay at the farm that day to get some chores finished, so I never got the chance to hate you!" She looked out to the field, where Pennington and Applejack's argument was rapidly escalating. "They're at it again?"
Before Trixie could respond, Pennington finally launched his verbal counterattack.
"Well, you closed-minded, family-obsessed, country hick! At least I don't discriminate ponies by their cutie marks! I've travelled the world, learning more and achieving things that you could never do on your little down-to-roots orchard! I would never tell a pony that they couldn't write because their cutie mark was something else, but if one of this family's members happens to have a talent unrelated to Apples, you shove them aside and tell them that they can't help! The only time that you've ever come to ask me to join your little 'Apples Only Club' was when you needed a little unicorn magic or an extra set of hooves to work until you didn't need them any more! You act like just because I'm not an apple farmer, I turned down a giant mass of opportunities! I don't work for you because I was never welcome! I don't come to the family reunions because I don't want to be shoved to the side!"
"Why do they hate each other so much?" Trixie asked, cringing as Pennington's angry voice echoed so loudly, ponies back in the town might be able to hear it.
"Well, Penn's mom is my Aunt, but his dad was a... a..." Apple Bloom struggled for a word, then lit up as she remembered it. "Freelancer! He was a news pony who just moved from place to place, working for different newspapers. So, when Penn didn't get an apple cutie mark, he separated himself from the family. He feels left out, but AJ thinks that he thinks he's better than us... Which really seems to strike a nerve with her." She let out a long sigh. "Penn blames the family for the fact that his mom was always gone on work when he was little, and AJ just says that he should be glad to have his parents at all..."
"Well, at least my dad wasn't a homeless bum!" Applejack shouted. "We all know Celia is the one who supported your family!"
"Because you guilt tripped her into not leaving her job! 'For the family!' you cried! The family you love so much kept her on the road for weeks at a time!" Pennington screamed in return, shoving his face into Applejack's. "And my dad is NOT a BUM! He's a journalist!"
"Well, it certainly seems like you got something more than just his horn! You enjoy sleeping on your desk, and he sleeps on park benches!" Applejack shouted in return, pushing up his horn to place their foreheads against one another, nearly making their searing glares meet physically.
"Take that back, you uneducated wench!" Pennington screamed, slamming one of his front hooves into the bottom of her jaw, knocking her head upwards.
"And he took the bait... Again..." Apple Bloom shook her head hopelessly. "You'd think he'd learn that AJ always waits for him to make the first-"
"GAAH!" Pennington screamed as Applejack spun around and slammed both of her back hooves into his chest, sending him flying upwards into the tree branches.
"-move."
"Pennington!" Trixie cried, jumping over the fence and rushing towards the scene, fearing for his safety. She came to a stop as Pennington came flying back down out of the branches, landing squarely on his hooves. She saw him grab at his chest and grimace, and felt a surge of protective emotion will up in her chest. The sensation was unfamiliar, but it made her feel powerful. Using this new strength of will, she placed herself between the two, turning towards Applejack with her horn glowing and ready for anything.
"You should be happy to even be related by blood to this pony! Penny isn't the kind of pony who would hold a grudge or pass unfair judgment! In the short hours I've known him, he's taken me in off the streets, given me a place to stay, given me food and proven to me that maybe ponies aren't really cruel at their heart!" She shouted, taking a defiant step towards Applejack. "The fact that he was able to put aside his pride and any self-respect he had and come to you, begging on my behalf when I clearly don't deserve it, shows that he's more generous and caring than I could ever expect you to be! Hire me or don't hire me, but I won't let you treat him like that!" She growled, stepping back until she was standing next to him, inspecting his wounds. It seemed mostly that he was covered in small scratches, but he seemed to be refusing to let go of his chest, and his breath was coming in short bursts.
"Big sis!" Apple Bloom's voice called from the fence. "We gotta get today's wagon to market! Come on!"
Applejack looked back to her sister, then at Pennington and Trixie. "Ah'm not gonna take orders from you, Trixie, and you're not welcome 'round here..."
"Well, then... it's a good thing... we don't want... to stay." Pennington huffed, limping past her on only one of his front legs. Without being asked, Trixie pushed her head under his leg, forcing him to lean on her as they walked away together. As they neared the fence, they saw a large red stallion with straw-colored hair standing next to Apple Bloom.
"Afternoon, Big Mac..." Pennington forced a smile through his apparent pain.
The pony looked at Pennington, then at Applejack. "You hit her?" He asked with a calm, low voice.
"Eeyup..." Pennington chuckled.
"She hit you?" Big Mac asked again, still calm.
"Eeyup..." Pennington replied just as simply.
The stallion turned to Trixie, then back to Pennington. "Girlfriend?"
Trixie felt her face flushing, and piped up before Pennington replied. "No, no, no... We're just friends... Penny here is just trying to help me find a job!"
Big Macintosh looked at her, then at Pennington again, then back at her.
"Shame..." With that, he turned and walked away. "See ya later, cuz."
"I'll see ya around, Big Mac..." Pennington smiled as Apple Bloom waved and trotted after her brother. His breathing was beginning to slow down, now, though his breaths were still shallow.
"Are you alright, Pennington?" She asked, trying to get a closer look at his chest. There didn't seem to be any more injury than the bruise rapidly forming, but she had no idea if he was hurt under his skin. She could easily have imagined Applejack breaking one or more of his ribs.
"I'll be fine... We always pull our punches with one another..." He wheezed as he made a conscious effort to take a deep breath. "Moreso me than her..."
"I'm not convinced. Let's get you back home to look more closely at that..." She began to walk back towards the town, letting him continue to lean on her. "You didn't have to go through all of that for me."
"She insulted my dad... I was fighting for myself." Pennington shook his head. "You really think too much of me, Trixie."
"Oh, shut up, Penny. For the first time in years, I felt like I wasn't putting up some kind of act back there..." Trixie muttered. "I meant every word..."
This did seem to make Pennington stop arguing with her, and the two walked back to Ponyville in silence.
When they finally reached Inkwell Commissions again, Trixie let out a sigh of relief. Pennington let go over her shoulders and opened the lock on the door with a key from his saddlebag. He had stopped grabbing his chest and started breathing normally by the time that they had reached town, but hadn't stopped leaning on her until now. As the doors swung open, he walked inside, his steps quiet as he tried not to put much pressure on his front hooves and, by extension, his chest.
"Now, We need to get those cuts cleaned up..." Trixie muttered as they walked through the kitchen together. To her surprise, Pennington turned towards his study, starting to use the spell to open the locks from the outside. "Penny, where are you going?"
"I'll be fine, but I have a deadline to meet..." He muttered as the door swung open. "So I'm going to get working..."
"You'll be doing no such thing!" Trixie cried, picking him up with her magic and trotting up the stairs. "I'm not letting out of my sight until I've made sure myself that you're okay!"
Pennington let out a long sigh as she pulled him through the air, rolling his eyes. "Why would you care more about my health than I do? I've had worse..."
"I don't know, you need to start caring more!" Trixie smiled as she dropped him on his back on the couch in his living room. "Until then, 'Nurse Trixie' is in!"
Pennington rolled his eyes and immediately tried to get up again, but Trixie pinned his shoulders as he took a closer look at his chest. She could see a large bruise already beginning to darken on the skin under his fur.
"Alright, now... Tell me if this hurts..." Trixie gently pressed her hoof against the bruise, trying to feel for anything that was broken.
"Ow..." He muttered, as if trying to be sarcastic. Trixie could tell that it was really was hurting him by the fact that his muscles tensed under her touch. "Oh, the pain... It's excruciating..." Pennington continued to drone, trying to play off the pain as nothing.
Trixie rolled her eyes and applied more pressure with a sudden thrust downwards, digging her hoof into the bruise. This elicited a more appropriate response from Pennington, who
"OW! What was that for?" Pennington snapped, trying to sit up again.
"Perhaps you'll be more polite when somepony is trying to help you..." She muttered, noting that everything under his chest felt intact. Nodding to herself, she moved on to the smaller cuts and bruises from being thrown through the trees.
"Trixie, I told you that this isn't necessary..." Pennington sighed as he consigned himself to his fate.
Trixie found a small shard of a branch digging its way under his skin in one of his back legs. With a quick motion, she pulled it out, making him grunt in pain again.
"You've got a few more notable splinters..." She muttered as she gave his body another once-over. "And a few of your cuts are still open. Where are your bandages?"
"In the bathroom cupboard, middle shelf..." Pennington mumbled. "None of these need one, though..."
"That's for the nurse to decide!" Trixie chuckled as she walked away. "Now, stay put until I come back..."
Trixie walked quietly into the bathroom, her eyes peeled for the cupboard. It was simple to find, fixed to the wall just to the right of the mirror. She pulled open the wooden door and looked inside. She spotted the familiar brand of adhesive bandages: "Pony-Aid." As she pulled out the box, something caught her eye.
"The box hasn't even been opened..." She muttered and rolled her eyes. "Stallions are always trying to act so tough..."
After pulling off the cellophane and tossing it into the trash, she came back to the living room.
True to her word, Pennington hadn't left the couch. However, his desk in the corner was open, there was now an open inkwell on the desk, and Pennington had a scroll and quill busily working next to him, scratching out words quickly and easily with his magic.
"I really need to get this done, Trixie..." He muttered, dropping the quill the moment that he noticed her standing in the doorway.
"You need to take better care of yourself... When was the last time you used one of these?" She asked, motioning to the bandages.
"Well... Umm..." Pennington seemed to be pondering the question, but instead, the quill picked itself up again and began to write. "I don't know..."
Trixie sighed and picked up the writing materials herself, moving them back to his desk. "Well, you're using them today." Without waiting for his reply, she moved forward and pulled out the remaining splinters one by one, making him grunt in pain every time. She could see that he was truly resenting having to stay still, but she tended to his wounds one by one, cleaning them with a damp paper towel and placing bandages on several that hadn't developed scabs already.
"You know, I could go to another town to look for work..." She muttered. "I'd get out of your hair, and I might be able to find some pony like you... one that doesn't hate me so much. I'd hate to leave... but I can't just stay here forever!"
"What are you talking about?" Pennington asked as she stepped away and let him sit up again. "You have a job!"
Trixie shook her head. "But Applejack-"
"Applejack can kiss my flank!" Pennington interrupted. "I've been needing an assistant for a long time now, anyway!'
Trixie tilted her head in confusion. "Wait. So... are you going to give me a job here? At Inkwell Commissions?"
"Well, when you put it that way, you're hired!" Pennington laughed, placing a hoof on her shoulder. "I'll expect you in my study at eight o'clock tomorrow morning!"
Trixie grinned and jumped forward, giving him a hug of joy. "Thank you, Penny!"
Pennington tensed, and Trixie realized that, when she had given him such a tight hug, she had put a large amount of pressure on his chest. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"
"It's fine..." Pennington wheezed. "After all, I have a nurse on call..."
The two of them laughed for a long time after that, and Trixie began to feel like things were beginning to work out for the better... She would be earning her room and board, now, and working for the pony that she had enjoyed the company of even more than the last time she had found a mirror.