Opening the door to my rather small but comfortable cabin I took a deep breath in enjoying the brisk morning air. With a good warm mug of fresh brewed tea in hand I took a seat down on my favorite spot at the corner of the raised porch that allowed my feet to comfortably sit just off the ground. I started my now deeply beloved morning ritual, of which just happened to be stare of into the vast open and slightly hilly area that lead to the apple orchard of my neighbors. The sun had only just begun its accent into the sky when I had stepped outside and with the beginning of the fall of the leaves I knew the rhythmic thumps of my neighbors, the Apples, would soon be beginning their last harvest of the year.

Mere minutes seemed to pass and the sun had now flooded the area with light when down the road I caught sight of one of said neighbors walking towards my small cabin with a small cart trailing behind her. Thanks to the slight chill coming into the area she seemed to have dug out her longer clothes consisting of a well worn pair of jeans and a long sleeved flannel shirt ending with her signature stetson hat atop her head just barely hiding her long golden locks of hair done up in a fine ponytail. Seeing her reminded me of the fact that today was the last of the normal work week for those in town a fair distance from my home, which could only mean she was here to drop off my usual delivery of food stuffs.

I stood rather quickly and hurried in to gather my bag of ‘bits’ as it were. Just momentary stopping long enough to pour another mug of tea as I figured that would be a kind gesture to the beautiful ‘woman’ who took the time to lend a hand. Walking to the doorway to the outside again she called out a quick greeting, “Howdy there Val, hows the morning treating ya’ so far?”

Walking towards her so I could pass off the warm extra mug in my hand I gave a quick laugh. “Seems a lot better then you if the loaded cart behind you is any indication.”

“That would be true if’n I didn’t buy all of what ya’ wanted the night before and stored it in that fancy ice box ya’ made for us.”

Chuckling I responded “Be that as it may, thank you for making the run for me. As for the ice box it is just a simple runic device people from home came up with a good while back, so nothing special about it.”

“That’s good and all but could ya’ magine if’n we could make a bigger one ta store some of the apples away for tha winter times?”

Taking a quick moment to think of the idea of making a large enough version to house the vast amount of apples the family tries to store quickly made my head spin. “While its not impossible it would take a very good amount of time and effort, that's not even mentioning the materials that would be needed for me to craft the runes and set them to work correctly.”

“Well shoot sugercube ya’d have all the help you could possibly need tah get it done. OH, this might be a great time to get ya tah meet mah friends and maybe Twi might be able to lend ya ah hand with makin it” she said with a grin.

“Oh, would that be the infamous Twilight Sparkle and the other bearers that you and Tia have told me about?”

Replying with a snort “She’s only infamous cuze of her magic and how she uses it for the smallest of things. Ah personally don’t pay it much mind but boy howdy does she use it all tha time.”

“To be fair unicorn magic is more suited for everyday use especially since Tia-- sorry, Celestia said she had locked away more combat related spells for only the guard to use. But no matter, here are your bits for the food and a little extra for the nice conversation.” I said moving to pick up the several wooden boxes from the back of the cart, only to have her lend a “hoof”.

The statement of which I shall never understand fully as the “Ponies” who were the main population of this country were quite different from the anatomy I was used to. They bore a fairly close likeness to my kind, Humans, but at the same time were very different. Their head structure came in many different forms much like humans were some had a rounded face and some had more boxy shapes. But their upper body was nearly identical if you didn't consider the lack of a pinky finger and the fact they were entirely covered in a coat of fur. Traveling downward more they had a tail that was located just at the end of their spines that was mostly hair as the tail itself was short. That resulted in what they in addition to having “mane styles” had ones for their tails as well. Getting to their legs were the most interesting parts of them if you asked me as they were bipedal with digitigrade legs from their knees down ending in a solid hoof much like one would find on the horses from home. After my short pondering yet again on a simple subject we had gotten all of the produce into the house so I may get started sorting it.

“So Val, whatch’a say tah meetin tha gals?” Applejack asked with a hopeful look gracing her admittedly beautiful face.

Pausing with my back still turned to Applejack as I unloaded the various fruits and vegetables into my chill box. “If it has anything to do with the celebration tomorrow then worry not as Celestia has already requested I make an appearance so that I can meet her sister. In fact the letter Celestia sent she mentioned that Princess Luna is excited to meet you and your friends just as much as she is to meet me.” I respond watching out of the corner of my eye to gauge her response which shifted from happy to nervous after my saying the newly returned princess would like to meet her.

Chuckling I grabbed an apple from the box and tossed it to Applejack startling her from her thoughts. “Do calm down my friend as I said she is excited to meet you all again, nothing bad will come of it.”

Applejack gave me a look that could make a lesser man fall to his knees and beg forgiveness and sighed. “Shoot sugercube ah know she ain’t gonna bring trouble. Ah’m more worried what trouble will come to her.”

We both shared a look and aired our concerns “Crusaders”

Laughing about how badly that will likely end up we parted ways with a quick hug and a few good natured words between friends. Quickly finishing up with the food and grabbing a juicy looking pear, I turned to the small living room I had and took to my favorite seat, a Recliner as the sales man who delivered it to me had called it. Though the name really didn't matter to me much as I fell in love with the thing the first time I sat in it. I took my time eating it and saved the seeds in hopes that maybe I could find something to do with them or who knows I might just want a nice tree in my backyard soon.

The enjoyment however was lost when the small clock on the fireplaces mantel chimed. Looking up I saw that somehow I had spent nearly two hours sitting and thinking. But now was time to get up and do my job, a job that I loved with all of my heart.

Getting up and heading into the small room across from my bedroom I took in the sight of my old armor which was a gift from my parents when I had decided to follow in their footsteps several years prior to finding my self living here. It was a very practical set of armor consisting of a leather chest piece with a metal called mythril forming the chain mail of the joints around the stomach and shoulders with even a few plates protecting the upper abdomen. The gloves, wrist guards, and boots were unfortunately made with high steel chain and plates but considering the prices that it took to make the chest piece I was happy with it. I quickly dressed in the armor and turned to pick my weapons for the day.

On my weapon rack stood several spears and some shields were lining the lower region of the wall under the shelves that held my true weapons. Rows of daggers and throwing knives lay out on the shelf and just next to them were my axes and mauls. I’ve always been a fan of mauls and maces because though they were heavy no armor could truly protect against a good swing and hit. It didn't matter if the target was undead or wearing heavy plate mail you would still feel the concussive crash of my hit. Grabbing my usual two daggers and a handful of the throwing knives I selected my favorite maul and put them in their rightful spots on my belt.

Leaving the house after grabbing some extra food and a few water skins I set out on my daily chore of securing the border of the local forest aptly named “Everfree” seeing as it was a true untamed forest. The job was simple patrol and check for signs of either someone stupid enough to enter or something foolish enough to leave. Boring most of the time but fighting monsters was something I was quite good at and Princess Celestia saw that from the first day we met and knew I would be perfect for the job.

Walking forth I could hear a few howls of the local “timberwolves” and a smile made its way onto my face.

“Today is going to be a good one”

Author's Note

SO like I said in the big old description this is my first attempt and I would be really glad to get some pointers and hopefully someone willing to give me a good slap in the head to keep me writing if this turns out to be a quarter decent (I doubt its half way so split the difference)

Also I know that I left out a lot about who and what the MC looks like thats kinda meant to be like that which is also tied into why AJ is delivering food (shouldn't be all that hard to piece that little bit together but still) the description and who he is is something that I wanted to do for the next chapter depending on how I can swing it.

So big thanks to anyone who take the small amount of time to read through this for me.