Kasey awakes from his slumber with a jolt. He shakes the grogginess from his eyes and looks around ‘So it wasn’t a dream.’ He thought to himself. The room he was in was nothing special, just a bed, dresser and a big window on the opposite end. The walls were white with gold trimming and the floor was a polished marble.
A knock comes from the door; “Are you awake, Kasey?” a voice comes from the other side. The rancher gets up from the bed and goes to the door. He opens the door to see the princess of the sun on the other side. “Please come with me, you are to depart to Ponyville here shortly.” She gestures him to follow, which he does without question. The two walk through the long corridors of the castle till they get outside to see a carriage waiting.
Kasey gets inside and sits down. The princess hands him a letter, “You will be staying at a local farm in Ponyville until your home is built. Give this letter to the mare by the name of Applejack.” With that said the carriage started to take off. Kasey felt it jostle around as it went, but then nothing. He looked out the little window and saw that they were in the air. He looked out of the window to what was moving it, and to his surprise it was a pair of Pegasus. He just sat back down, baffled at what is going on around him. These creatures had the body of a human and a horse combined. Not only that, but they can speak just like he can.
Kasey shook the thoughts from his head. Since he was now going to live here, might as well accept what the creatures for what they are.
A few hours later the carriage landed with a bump and then came to a halt. The rancher got at and saw where he was taken. It was a huge farm that had, by the looks of it, apple trees as far as the eye can see. In front of him was a sight that read Sweet Apple Acres. Beyond the sign was a rather large farm house, and next to it was a bog old red barn. The carriage took off as he walked up to the house.
The sun was now setting as he got up to the front door. Kasey knocked on the door and waited. After a few moments the door opened by a large red stallion, with a piece of wheat in his mouth. The stallion wore a look of confusion as to what was at the front door. It stood on two legs but has absolutely no fur, and then it spoke, “Excuse me sir, is there a mare here by the name of Applejack?” Awkward silence befell the two. Soon the red stallion finally broke the silence. “Eeyup, but what do you want with mah sister?” The stallion had a rather deep country accent.
Kasey was nervous as the stallion folded his arms. “Well sir, your princess wanted me to give her this.” He pulled out the letter given to him by Celestia from his rucksack. The stallion was cautious but gestured for Kasey to enter the house. “Ah’ll be right back.” The stallion said and disappeared into the kitchen.
After a short conversation that Kasey could not hear, a small mare with orange fur, blonde mane and a brown cowgirl hat walked out of the kitchen. “What in tarnation are you and what do you want?” she said rather harshly. Kasey did not waste time as he handed her the letter.
Applejacks eyes went back and forth on the letter, and then she gasped. “Ah’m sorry, ah didn’t know that you were the help the princess was talkin’ bout.” She folded the letter back up and set it down on an end table. “Mind if I ask you a few questions?” Applejack said.
Kasey face palmed ‘Not this’ was all he thought. “Sure, go ahead.” He said with a sigh. “What is your name?” she asked.
“Kasey”
“What do you like to eat the most?”
“Fruits and vegetables”
“When were you born?”
“The seventh of fall. I’m also 23 years old”
“Well, that does it fer the Q&A.” Applejack said smiling, walking over to Kasey. The new rancher was now able to get a better look at Applejack. She has freckles under each of her emerald green eyes. Her fur is clean and well-kept and her mane was like his hair, soft and bouncy. While he looked at her, he could have sworn that her face was aglow.
Kasey shook the thought from his mind. “Come with me Kasey, I will show you to your temporary room.” Applejack said gesturing at Kasey for him to follow her. The two walked up the stairs in the farm house, went down the hallway and stopped in front of the last door on the right side.
Applejack opened the door, “This will be your room fer now. You should get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us.” Kasey scoffed at what Applejack said.
She looked at him with a stern look. “And what was that fer?” Kasey smiled, “I worked on a ranch for a long time, twice the size of your farm. I did everything from planting and harvesting crops to raising cattle, and I did it all by myself.” Applejacks eyes grew wide in shock. “I got so good that I took care of four plots of land, 20 cattle, pets, and hens in less than three hours.” Kasey finished with a smug grin.
Applejack was at a loss for words. How can one pony take care of all that on his own, and for that long? She sighed in defeat, “Okay, Kasey, get some rest and be up and ready fer the day.” Without another word she left.
Kasey walks into the room. It had a single bed, a dresser with a mirror on it, a small circular rug in the middle and one candle on a small end table near the bed. Other than that the room was empty. He walks over to the bed, kicks off his boots and strips down to his boxers. He then pulls the covers back on the bed, gets in and just lays there thinking. ‘What does he have to do? Where will this new life lead him? Will he find someone?’ That last question brought up one more. ‘And was that glow on her face what I think it was?’
Kasey couldn’t think anymore as the tight embraces of sleep finally took over his body.