“Alrighty then, Donovan, here’s where you’ll be sleepin’ an’ all that.” Applejack said as she dropped a duffel bag next to the large bed. She had offered to carry all of Donovan's newly-made clothes back to the ranch for him, for which he thanked her continually.

He made his way into his new room, ducking through the doorway, but able to stand straight up once inside, with a comfortable amount of distance between his head and the ceiling. A nice change of pace from Twilight’s guest room, for sure.

“This is great.” Donovan said with a soft upward curve on his lip as he peered out the window at the far wall of his room, providing an overlook of several acres of well-kept farmland. The same farmland that he’d be working on starting today. “Thanks, AJ. I love it.”

“Gosh, Ah sure am glad y’got enough headroom.” Applejack smiled as she looked at the rafters above Donovan’s head. “Ah wasn’t sure if you’d be able t’stand straight up in here... Are y’sure yer okay with this as yer room? Ah mean, Ah know it’s pretty empty right now, but Ah’m perfectly fine with you redecoratin’ it an’ puttin’ furniture and that kinda thang wherever you want.”

“Sounds great; I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.” The slender human replied. He was paying attention to his new boss’ words, but he wasn’t completely present at the moment; he was thinking back to when he and Applejack had set out towards the farm from Twilight’s house. Though they’d had a few quarrels during Donovan’s residence there, it would be a lie to say that he and Twilight hadn’t bonded over it. They had more than a few conversations that allowed them to get to know each other little by little, and by the time Donovan moved out, it felt nearly the same as moving away from an apartment complex in which he knew the landlord as an acquaintance or, hell, even a friend. As Donovan carried his belongings out of the giant tree-turned-library, he could see what looked to be almost an expression of conflicted somberness on Twilight’s face, as if she didn’t want him to leave for Sweet Apple Acres. But that was what was bothering him; these ponies were just so friendly. After all of Donovan’s encroaching on Twilight’s property, or at least what he felt was encroaching, and leeching off of her comfortable position, the fact that Twilight still wouldn’t mind, and maybe even wanted him to stay longer at the library baffled him. If he were still back in his hometown on earth, he was sure things definitely wouldn’t have been so friendly on his departure.

“Great! Now, go ahead’n get settled in, grab somethin’ to eat from the kitchen, and when yer ready, meet me out in fronta th’barn so we can start today’s work!” Applejack threw over her shoulder as she trotted happily out of the room.

Donovan sighed softly, a smirk running across his face. He wasn’t in an ideal situation, but he was making the most out of what he had in this strange new world. He made his way down to the kitchen, having to duck slightly due to his tall frame. His smirk turned into a smile of slight nostalgia as the aroma southern comfort breakfast wafted to his nostrils. “Biscuits, gravy, eggs, bacon and grits?” He ventured a guess, which was soon confirmed by a deep-voiced response from a large red stallion standing at the stove.

“Eeyup.” The stallion answered with a small nod. Donovan knew better than to pursue conversation; Applejack had told him about Big Macintosh, explaining that he wasn’t much for conversation, but not to take it the wrong way.

“It’s not that he don’t like ponies… err, people.” She told him, “He’s jes’ shy. He’s actually real nice an’ friendly, y’just gotta catch’im in the right mood.”

“Sounds great, Macintosh.” Donovan said with a small smirk as he sat down at the table, looking up to be greeted by smiles from the Apple Family’s youngest and oldest members: Applebloom and Granny Smith. “Morning, everybody.” Donovan greeted his new housemates.

“Hey there, sonny.” Granny Smith answered with another sweet smile, which melted Donovan’s heart. He couldn’t ever figure out why, but he’d always had a soft spot for grandmothers. Maybe it was their innocence, or their vast wisdom. Either way, a greeting from the elder only made Donovan’s smile grow.

“Howdy, Mr. Donovan!” Applebloom replied with a beaming grin. She was already reaping the benefits of living alongside the only human in Equestria; once she had heard the news from her older sister last night, Applebloom had told every colt and filly in her school that Donovan would be living in her house, receiving several curious, excited, and jealous stares from her classmates, as well as numerous applications to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the only criteria filled out on the sheet for most of them being that they ‘only wanted to join to see the hyooman.’

After a rather filling southern-comfort breakfast, everyone handed their dishes to Granny Smith to be cleaned and set about their daily chores on the farm. Little Bloom and Big Mac set out to the empty fields that still needed to be plowed, while Applejack lead Donovan to the barns to introduce him to the livestock. He was first acquainted with the cows; Bessy and Tina seemed to take an instant liking to him, while the others simply tolerated his existence, as they did with the Apple Family.

Applejack went on to show him how to milk them and clean their stalls before taking him through the other livestock structures. He met dozens of pigs, ducks, and chickens, greeting them all with a small smile and an occasional pat on their backs or rub of their feathers. He went about his share of the barnyard chores, cleaning half of the stalls and coops as well as harvesting eggs and milk, brushing the loose straws of hay into the corner, and filling the feeding troughs. Soon enough, it was high noon, and Applejack reached into her saddlebag to pull out two bagged lunches. She led Donovan out to a large clearing in the middle of a collection of apple trees, ripe for the picking. They sat down at the base of a large tree as Applejack set the two bags in the grass. “Ah reckon you’ve earned a lunch break right about now.”

“Yeah, I could eat.” Donovan replied with a sigh of relief as he sat back against the large tree trunk. He opened up his bag and pulled out what seemed to be a sort of calzone filled with beans and edible roots. It didn’t look too appetizing, but when he bit in he instantly regretted his initial skepticism. “Wow, did Granny make these?” He asked quickly before taking a second, much larger bite.

“Yeah, she makes sure we do more than just not go hungry. Her meals are the best Ah’ve had within twelve counties.” Applejack nodded in approval before looking over to her new human farmhand with a grin and a soft chuckle. “Slow down there, pardner; if yer not careful you’ll choke!”

Donovan gave a dismissive wave and smirked as he put the second half of the morsel in his mouth and nearly swallowed it whole. “Nah, eating’s never been much of a problem for me. Also, you ponies forget that I’m bigger than you. That includes my mouth.”

Applejack smirked again as she shook her head. “Ah bet eating like that drove Twilight crazy when you were livin’ with her. She’s almost as much of a prude about table manners as Rarity.”

“I got more than my fair share of magical floating spoon smacks on my knuckles.” He replied with a soft chuckle. “Yeah, she’s almost as bad as my-” The small smile Donovan was wearing quickly turned into a flat expression that Applejack was unable to read. “Anyway... “ The black haired human said, scratching the back of his neck. “What’s next on the list of work to be done today?”

“Well, Ah reckon we’re just about done on this side of the farm…” Applejack trailed off as she tried to think where Donovan could be the most effective. Suddenly her ears perk and she clicked her tongue as an idea came to mind. “Oh, Ah know! How’s about you go over to the wheat fields and help Mac plow the dirt? With yer size, it shouldn’t be hard fer ya at all!”

“Sure thing!” He replies as he stands up, his lanky frame so tall it allowed him to reach above him and grab an apple off a branch if he’d wanted to; but he’d just eaten, so he decided to shake the thought from his mind. “I’ll go find him, and we’ll be done ASAP!”

“That sounds swell, sugarcube. By the time y’all are done it should be jus’ about time to corral all the livestock back into the barn fer the night, so if’n you want, you and Mac can help me finish up with that, and we’ll all head back inside for dinner!”

Donovan started in the direction of the wheat fields as he threw a response back over his shoulder. “Got it, we’ll be there! See you later, Applejack!” He threw up a hand to wave to his boss and housemate, and within fifteen minutes he crested the final hill in the apple orchard and was greeted with the sight of Ponyville’s largest stallion, Big Macintosh.

“Hey, Big Mac!” Donovan called out, only to be greeted with a slow nod of Mac;s head in acknowledgement. “Applejack sent me over here, said with my size we’d get the fields plowed in no time.”

Mac took a few seconds to look Donnovan up and down before giving a small smirk. “Eeyup. G’ahead an’ strap that plow round yer neck and we can get goin’.” Donnovan tried to hide his surprise, shocked that Mac had taken enough of a liking to him already to say more than one word at a time to him. Nevertheless he didn’t dwell to much on the thought, and started strapping up to the plow, wrapping the leather belts around his shoulders in the fashion of a backpack rather than his neck, not wanting to choke himself. Mac strapped up to a second, slightly smaller plow, and the set to work, busting out nearly three times as much work as Mac would have been able to do with another pony farmhand. Both covered in sweat, the took the setting sun after hours of plowing as a sign that they’d done their share for the day.

The pair headed back to the barn to find that Applejack had finished herding the livestock inside all on her own. They made their way inside and rang the dinner bell, causing Applebloom to make her way inside from her clubhouse. Donnovan enjoyed another southern style home-cooked meal, standing after he was finished. “I’m sorry for doing this, everyone, but I won’t be able to help clean up the kitchen; I’ve gotta head into town to start my night shift at Vinyl Scratch’s club.”

“No worries, sugarcube.” Applejack replied with a smile. “You’ve done more’n enough round here today, g’on ahead. Just be ready to do it all again tomorrow. There’s a key under the mat fer when y’get back if we’re all asleep.”

“Awesome, thank you guys for everything.” He replied, a smile on his face as he headed for the door. “See you tomorrow!”

The apple family said their farewells for the night as Donnovan headed down the dirt road leading into town. As he made his way towards Ponyville, he gave a soft chuckle and looked up to the setting sun on the horizon. “Now, where have I seen this before? Two full time jobs, around a bunch of cool coworkers…”

There’s no place like home, but this is pretty damn close.

Author's Note

Phew, I'm glad I finally got back to working on this fic. Sorry for the filler chapter, especially this early, but there's far more substantial chapters to come real soon! As I'm typing this I've got the next chapter outlined and ready to start writing/ Thank you guys so much, I'm so happy to see how fast this story received support and constructive criticism. Keep it coming, folks!

Deuces, guys!