//------------------------------//
// Honest Pay for Honest Work 
// Story: The Daily Life Of Anonymous 
// by Zarah 
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Anon walked peacefully through the outskirts of Ponieville. Walking in-between the Everfree forest and the back of a few houses. With no music to listen to and no one to talk to, the human simply mused over his surroundings.

To his left were the trees of the Everfree. They twist and warp into unnatural shapes, the bark cracked along the trunks into spikes as the canopy blocked most light from touching the ground. Looking into the forest almost always gave the unease of something looking back.

To his right were the small back gardens of attached houses, in a few of them he saw foals playing with their parents or on their own. Anon smirked slightly, remembering how he used to play with his sister when he got the chance. She would always manage to get into mischief.

Anon knew he shouldn't, but for the rest of the trip, he reminisced.  Whenever he did a job, he would always wait a week before returning home to ensure no one was tailing. When he did, he would always be greeted by her smiling face. Always so excited to tell him about her day or recent events.

Anon snapped out of his thoughts as he realised he had arrived. Walking under a large wooden archway, with a sign hanging below it reading 'Sweet Apple Acres'.

Continuing down the path, the apple's farm slowly came into view as he passed chickens, pigs and sheep as well as a huge apple orchard. Each tree was planted in a line that looked perfect to the naked eye; each tree seemed brimming with life with apples that almost sparkled.

His eyes focused on the large rustic farmhouse, it was clear a lot of passion and hard work went into building it with all the added ascetics. Movement from the barn beside the house caught his attention. Applejack was standing in the barn's doorway, talking to a large red stallion with stacks of hay bales beside them.

The red earth pony was the first to notice Anon approaching, cocking his head, he motioned towards Anon with a swift head tilt which Applejack followed.

"Howdy there, sugar cube. This is ma brother Big Mac; he will be helping ya today. Are ya ready to be worked hard?" Applejack asked with a friendly smile.

Anon gave a smirk before replying. "Try me."

"Alrighty then, these here hay bales need putting in the hayloft." Applejack instructed, pointing at the square opening leading into the top floor of the barn.

Anon looked like he was going to reply until he remembered something Twilight told him about. "Quick question. If I understand right, your family use good old hard labour instead of magic. Would I be permitted to use my 'magic' since I am not casting spells and all that." Anon requested.

Applejack took a moment to think it over, rubbing her chin with a forehoof. "True, it is not typical magic. I'd say that's fair with you not being a pony and all."

"Appreciate it. Consider it done." Anon replied with confidence.

"That's what I like to hear, I'll be back in a little bit to see your progress." Applejack added as she began walking towards the house.

Anon watched Applejack leave before turning to Big Mac. "No offence but I'm good, it will be easier for me this way.

Big Mac looked at Anon for a few moments before shrugging. "Eeyup." Is the only thing he said before he began walking towards the sheep pen.

Anon immediately began work. Stacking the bales underneath the hayloft opening and lined up with the wooden arm that protruded just above the entrance which held a thick iron ring. The ring already had rope wrapped around it, one end was on the floor in front of Anon, and the other was tied to the strings of a hay bale.

The human began to pull the rope, causing it to slide through the metal ring until the end finally went through and fell to the ground. He then proceeded to untie the rope from the bale and neatly coiled the rope and hung it up on a loose nail inside the barn. Finding the ladder Anon climbed to the hayloft and walked to the opening.

The human held his hand out of the loft as two strands of magical fibre were cast out from his wrists towards the iron ring. The fibres coiled around each other like snakes before they slipped through and began making their way down. Once the fibres reached the topmost bale.

Anon was a bit surprised he had this much control over the ends when they were so far away, as the fibres wrapped around the string with ease. Giving it a few tugs to test the weight, Anon began hoisting up the first bale. With each pull, the untaught fibres retreated back into Anon's wrist like a winch until the bale reached the very top.

Anon pulled in the dangling bale with his free hand then placed it in one of the corners. He then proceeded to pull the next one up. Witch each bale he refined his method until the last bale.

Anon had taken his shoes off and anchored himself to the hayloft floor, by covering his feet with magic and giving them adhesive properties. this way he could stand closer to the opening and lean out without fear of falling. Next Once Anon had pulled up the bale, he bloated part of the thread that touched the iron ring and also gave it adhesive properties, causing it to not move when given slack. After that he easily grabbed the bale and plopped it next to him.

Getting rid of all his magic, The human slipped his shoes back on and pushed the last bale with the others. The human counted twenty bales and had gotten the time down for each bale to thirty seconds. All and all Anon was pretty happy with his efforts.

After double counting the bales, he thought to get some more work from Applejack.

Sliding down the ladder Anon made his way to the house, the porch steps creaked with age as he knocked on the door with three light taps.

After a few moments Anon heard a faint 'I'm coming, I'm coming' and creaking floorboards as the sound closed in on the door, before it swung open and an older looking green pony stood in the doorway.

"Oh, hey there sweetie. You must be the hooman Applejack was talking about. What can I do for ya?"

Anon decided to play it safe and be polite for once. "Morning ma'am. I finished hauling the hay bales into the hayloft. I was wondering if there was anything else she wanted me to get on with." Anon replied in a respective tone that almost seemed foreign to him.

"I see. No worries I'll just call her over." The wobbly old pony turned around before emptying her lungs. "APPLEJACK. HOOMANS HERE FOR YA." She then turned back towards the human. "She will be here in a second. Would you like to come in."

After Anon's ears had stopped ringing, he simply nodded before ducking slightly under the doorframe.

"Would you like some tea?" The seagreen pony asked.

"Water if that's alright."

She nodded before grabbing a cup and filling it up at the sink. As she sat the glass of water on the table, they both noticed that Anon would not fit in the pony chairs. So, the human decided to just sit on the floor as he downed the water.

As he placed the empty cup back on the table. Applejack rounded the corner with what looked like a tool belt attached to her barrel. "Hey there. You need help?"

"Oh, no I finished. Did you want anything else doing?" Anon replied, standing up.

"That was fast, uh where's Big Mac?" Applejack asked.

"I didn't need any help so I told him he could leave to do other stuff if he wanted."

"Wait. You hoisted the haybales on your own?" Apple jack questioned with surprise.

"Yeah, was I not meant to?" The human replied with slight confusion.

"It's at least a two-pony job and you did it in less than thirty minutes."

Anon smirked before replying. "I did say try me."

Applejack chuckled. "That you did."