The next morning Alex woke up to the singing of the birds outside; apparently their voices could reach even a cellar under a farm. What also woke him up was his belly growling, reminding him that he had not eaten anything since his little breakfast yesterday.

With a loud yawn he opened the eyes and raised from the stack he had slept on, rubbing the sand from his eyes. "Good morning weird new world..." he said, still half asleep; he stood up and stretched, stopping halway through with wide eyes as the realization that he really was not home anymore entered his mind.

However, before he could even get a mental breakdown about how he was in a different world or that he would be sold off to other people, a knock on the door ripped him from his thoughts.

With a smile Applejack bursted in through the door. "Rise an' shine greenhorn, it's early in tha morning and we have a load of work to get to, but first, how was ya sleep? Pleasant enough ah hope?"

"Yeah... yeah it was nice, this was better than my old bed back where I'm from. That damn thing could be classified as a weapon," he chuckled softly while stretching his neck.

"Well then Ah'm glad, that means ya are ready for some work! Also, please don't mind mah little sister, she an her friends always do some little troubles but they mean well." She motioned him to follow her as she went towards the cellar's door.

Following her out, he once again marveled at the beauty of the place. Alex then remembered something Applejack's sister had said yesterday.

"You know, your sister spoke yesterday about getting something for... monster hunting I believe?"

Applejack nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, gettin' her cutie mark is all that's on her mind as it seems. Oh you probably don't even know what that is, seeing as you don't have one." He motioned her to go on. "A cutie mark is a sign that shows what a pony's talent is; everypony has a special talent. Like mah cutie mark represents that I am for one good at mah job obviously, but also mah connection to mah family and how much they mean to me."

Applejack presented him her mark as an example; Alex made sure to not let his eyes or anything else wander, as he was sure that that trauma would soon be tackled; but he wanted to hold it off for as long as possible.

"That's why Ah told ya that mah sister may be a bit of trouble for yah; ya see, to her yah are more or less a rare monster, so she may try to catch yah with her friends."

He chuckled in response to that. "Well they are kids, that's fine. They are just trying to find out where they fit in in this world I guess. But more importantly... what do I do today for work today?" he asked, fearing she would sell him off already.

Applejack had led him to the orchard, which was filled with ripe apples. "Well, Ah'll be gettin some apples in the baskets under the trees, yer job for now will be carrying the full ones to our barn and storing them there for further usage, think ya can handle that?" she smirked.

This caused Alex to laugh out loud. "Seems I can't really get away from my usual day job, now do I?" He nodded as he walked over to the trees. "Yes I can do that, let's start."

To say that the work was hard was a understatement; the sun was burning hot and the baskets were heavy, but it also was a calm and enjoyable chore. It was so different from the cold and restricted work that Alex had before. A great bonus was that his new boss was not a jerk. But she was strict and lazying off at work was an absolute no no to her, which was fine by him as he enjoyed hard work if it was good.

After about six hours of work Applejack pulled him to the side. "Alright Alex, that should be enough for now. Now Ah will take ya to town so ya can get used to it." A very worried expression showed on his face when she mentioned the town. "Oh don't give me that look, it ain't that bad; yes, most ponies are prejudiced and yes, they act like stuck up jerks but most are harmless. Heck, Ah bet there are more that think like Ah do than we both know." Applejack said as she gave him a reassuring smile.

"Okay, but as soon as something seems off, I'm getting ready for the worst, I still remember how your friend treated that small lizard guy."

To that she nodded but added: "Also, Spike ain't no lizard, he's a dragon; a young one but sure enough he is one."

Alex once again could not hold his laughter and just let it loose. "Nohohohoho... you cant be serious, that little guy is supposed to be a dragon?" She frowned at his outburst and smacked the back of his head.

"Dontch'a go and laugh about my friend will ya, he is a very young one but yes he IS a dragon, also the darn treatment that Twilight puts him through stopped his growth." That stopped his laughter as he looked at the ground, not finding it that funny anymore. "Well, in any case, come on ya hairless minotaur, we gotta get into town!" With that they went on their way.

The way to town was no problem at all, it was even relaxing to the human. The wind was cool but not too strong, the sunlight warmed his body and the sound of Applejack's hooves lulled him into a state of calmness and some form of bliss which he had not been aware he was capable of feeling.

As soon as they entered the town, however, all that changed from comfortable to anxiety inducing. Every pony they came across stopped to stare at him. Some did in fear, some with genuine curiosity and interest and some with outright disgust and some form of hatred. Suddenly two guards stepped in their way.

"I am very sorry Miss Applejack, but you can't bring such a thing into our town unchained."

Applejack looked shocked by this kind of behavior.

"Listen here yer two, this being Ah'm takin' care of is not a danger to anpony! Does he really have to be chained?"

The guard looked uncomfortable at that but nodded. "It does not have to be a chain, but he must be bound to you in some way to make sure he wont hurt somepony." The other guard nodded to that, giving a stern glare at Alex.

"For the last darned time, he is no danger to nopony, why are you makin this hard? Ah vouch for him and you know how dependable Ah am after all, Ah have a bucking trophy for that for cryin out loud!" Applejack looked like she was ready to throw hooves by now but still tried to keep herself in check.

"Alright ma'am... just know that as soon this-" he looked at Alex from head to toe. "-thing makes any kind of trouble, we will be forced to restrain him forcefully and hold you accountable for it." With that they stepped out of the way, letting the pair pass.

Alex looked around, a scared look on his face. "Applejack, do you really think this is a good idea? I can hear them whispering already. I just don't want to get into trouble."

"Ah know, but we have to show ya around town, so that when anyone comes to our farm, no one tries to attack ya or worse, take ya as their own servant or such. They need to see ya are not dangerous but also that Ah have ya on mah farm." She looked at the ponies left and right as well. "Believe me when Ah tell you that I don't like the looks or the gossipin' either."

Soon they arrived at a wooden stall that had baskets of fresh looking apples in front of them as well as some baked goods for sale. As soon as they stood behind the stall a myriad of ponies flocked around them, all wanting to buy something.

"Dear costumers, Ah'm really not able to serve all yer wishes at once, but luckily we have a new helper on the farm so, please ask him for what you want to buy and he will sell it." Under the stall counter she gave Alex a little sheet of paper with the prices. Alex in turn nodded and swallowed down his fear and put on his best salesman smile.

Despite Applejack's advice most ponies didn't even look at Alex now as they were around the stall. Instead most of them just formed a long line in front of the orange mare. Alex sighed in defeat when three ponies that had not formed up in line actually stood before him. The one in the front was a mare with a fur of a light mulberry color and a mane of a slightly darker shade, she swayed a little bit in her walk but otherwise seemed fine.

"Well well well, what do we have here, I may not know what you are but you look like you know what a good drink is like, am I correct in that assumption?" She slightly slurred in her speech. A lot of ponies in the other line looked on with either annoyance or disbelief.

Alex scratched his beard and nodded with a smile. "As a matter of fact I do; so what can I get you?" The mare smirked and looked at the other line.

"Don't take note of these.....featherbrains, what I would like is a bottle of hard cider if you have any." She winked, somewhat.

"Berry, ya know we only sell that stuff on tha weekends, it's Thursday right now, why are you asking for hard cider then?" Applejack's mouth sides were twitching, edging on a little unprofessional smile.

Berry chuckled in a jovial manner. "Well you know, you only come down here with someone else when you sell alcohol, so when I saw you brought your new worker with you I hoped I could at least get one sample; I would even have it ordered to my place and pay extra." At that last part she wiggled her eyebrow which Alex missed but did not fly by Applejack.

"Ah will see what Ah can do in those regards, you see-" before she could even finish her sentence she was interrupted from a voice from the line.

"You really want to buy something from that filthy thing Berry? Don't you think it may poison your cider when it hands it over? I mean it is probably just some beast the Apples dug up from that wretched forest or some kind of failed abortion of a minotaur, and those are vile enough on their own!"

Berry turned to the line and spat on the ground. "Shut your buckin' mouth, not all of us are pansies, sure this creature is different so bucking what? It can sell things, it can talk that's all I need to know, so that's all I care about!" She then turned to Applejack. "I will contact you about that order and drinking, bud." she looked at Alex, "Hang in there." with that she walked off, many of the ponies from the long line mumbling insults and venom-filled gossip about her.

The two mares that had stood behind Berry slowly walked forward, but they were shaking a bit before him as they looked up at the human, fear clearly visible in their eyes.

"W-w-w-we would like to buy an apple pie and four apples please!" the one in the front almost whispered. Alex nodded and very slowly, careful to show them he meant no harm and that he wasn't doing anything to the food, got the pie and apples and set them on the counter.

"That would be twelve bits please." he spoke in a very calm and soothing manner, managing to make the mares ease up a bit as they got out the money and layed it on the counter, careful not to touch his hand.

"Thank you for your purchase." Alex bowed a bit as the mares took their items and hurried away; this time the long line of ponies was silent. He then handed over the bits to Applejack and smiled. "Who's next?" Needless to say, no one else bought anything from him anymore that day.

When the two turned to go home as evening was right around the corner Alex's stomach decided to say hello again, growling loudly.

"Oh mah gosh, ah completely forgot ya need to eat stuff!" Applejack looked at him with wide eyes; Alex however raised his hands in a calming manner.

"Don't worry Applejack, where I'm from I barely ate every day, so this is fine." He smiled but yelped when Applejack grabbed him by the hand and yanked him towards Sweet Apple Acres in a very forceful manner.

"No it's not, ya are our new worker, ya work and live at our farm without pay for the work, so tha least Ah can do is get ya some food in yer belly from time to time!"

Once they had arrived at the farm she made him sit quietly in a chair and went into the kitchen.

"No standin' up till ya have somethin in that belly of yer's!" She ordered.

After about half an hour she came out of the kitchen, in her hand a warm apple pie.

"Take a bite, it's the orchard's finest, probably even from tha apples ya carried today, so eat up."

Just the smell was mouth watering, so all Alex did was nod, picking up a fork and taking a bite. To him it was like he had entered pie heaven: the crust had the perfect consistency, the filling not too hot but just right. Before he had even noticed he had wolfed down the entire pie. When he heard a giggle from his side he looked and saw Applejack holding a hoof in front of her mouth.

"Was it that good?" she smirked softly. Alex nodded again.

"You have no idea, I think I've never had pie that good before." He licked up the crumbs around his mouth. Applejack smiled and sat down on the opposite side of the table.

"That's good, cause what now comes may not be as pleasant as this pie was..." she shuffled with her hooves on the ground.

"What is it? I mean you treat me this kindly, so it can not be that bad." She shuffled even more as a little sweat drop went down her face.

"Yeah... well... remember when Ah told you that ya may be sold off for services?" He nodded, gulping hard at that. "W-well Ah think that... Berry showed some interest... that's why she brought up house ordering stuff... and Ah thought that she may be a good start?"

Alex just stared at her, he felt like someone just had filled his belly with ice cubes. He could not believe what she had just said. All he could do was stare till one word escaped his lips.

"What?"

Author's Note

Uhhh, a cliffhanger....or something like that, sorry gotta keep up the (not existing) tension somehow right? Welp, in any case i hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, see ya in the next....still need a editor.....HALP!!