//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2- Meeting the Apple family. (not one hundred percent complete but very close)  
// Story: Applejack and the Soldier. 
// by Wolf-Baron 
//------------------------------//

	“Applebloom, Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, I’m home!” Applejack called out to her family. 
“Just wait here, I’ll go fetch em.” AJ told Ryan and he nodded back.

Ryan took his M16 off his shoulder and set it down carefully next to a coat rack. He then removed its magazine and bullets from the chamber so it wouldn’t accidentally go off and hurt anyone. He also took off his cap too as it was starting to make his head itch and he took some time to take a look at Applejack’s place.

He had to admit AJ’s place was very home friendly. The living room was rather small and filled with apple, farm, and cowboy related items as décor. The walls were coating with pictures of the Apple family going back several generations. There was a staircase at the center which Ryan guessed led to their bedrooms. Overall, it was a nice place. He wouldn’t mind staying here for a few days if they had the room.

As Applejack entered the dining room, a little filly and a tan and white border collie jumped on her. Applejack fell over laughing as the dog crawled on her chest and licked her face. 

“Whoah there, Winona I missed you too!” Applejack laughed as she pet the dog and carefully pushed her off her and got on her hooves again. Ryan laughed and smiled at this as he too owned a dog when he was very young and it would behave the same way.

The little filly, who Ryan assumed must have been a younger sibling. She was yellow and had a red mane. However, unlike Applejack, she did not have a mark on her flank. Ryan knew a thing or two about pony culture and he did know what cutie marks were, but he didn’t really remember how they worked. 

“Applejack!” the filly shouted with excitement as she hugged AJ. AJ hugged the filly back with great warmth and family love.
“Hey Applebloom.” She greeted her younger sibling. “How’s my lil sister doing?” 
Applebloom laughed with glee and happiness. 
“Doin’ great! Sweetie Bell came up with a plan today for us to get our cutie marks!” Applebloom explained very rapidly. AJ rolled her eyes and giggled at this. 
“Oh great what is it this time?” she questioned. 
The little filly Applebloom was about to answer her sister’s question but she stopped suddenly when she noticed Ryan standing behind Applejack. The filly’s mouth gaped open and she just stared at Ryan with a combo of curiosity and fear.

“Applebloom!” AJ scolded very sternly “What did I tell you about staring?” 
Applebloom snapped out of it and looked at AJ.
“I’m sorry sis but, who….what is this?” she asked as she raised a hoof and pointed at Ryan. 
Ryan laughed and knelt down so he was at her level of height. He extended his right hand as a friendly gesture. 
“Oh I’m terribly sorry. Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Ryan Winters.” He told the filly with a very friendly smile. Applebloom, squinting her eyes and tilting her head with curiosity, returned his handshake. 

“What…are you?” she questioned with as she shook his hand with her hoof.
“Well, I’m a human.” Ryan answered. “Haven’t you ever heard of my kind?” 
The filly nodded a little but still had a look of confusion on her face. 
“Kinda sorta.” She answered “But I ain’t never seen yer kind around here.” 
Ryan smiled and nodded back. “Yeah, humans and ponies do live on opposite continents.” 
“What are you doing at our place anyway?” she asked walking around and examining Ryan’s body. But Applejack came and scolded her sister. 

“Now Applebloom, that’s no way to treat our guest. He’s gonna be staying with us.” She told her sibling with a frown. She then looked back at Ryan trying to keep a straight face. 
“I apologize for my sister,” she had with a slow, nervous laugh. “She can be a little nutty at times.” 
“Hey!” Applebloom interrupted but her cry went ignored.
But Ryan shook his head and smiled as he lifted his head. 
“Oh it’s alright.” He said with understanding. Applejack nodded in approval and got up. 

As she was heading towards the kitchen, an elderly green furred pony came out from the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon in her mouth. 
“Hey there Granny Smith!” AJ greeted the old pony. It was obvious this was the grandmother Applejack was talking about earlier. 
The old mare took the spoon out of here mouth and placed it in her hooves. How ponies could grasp items without any fingers still baffled Ryan. 
“Well howdy sugar!” Granny Smith greeted her granddaughter. She then noticed Ryan.
“And who is this visitor?” she asked AJ.
But Ryan was the one to answer. 
“My name’s Ryan. Ryan Winters.” He replied bowing with a respect. Where he came from, it was always custom to bow to the elderly. 
Granny trotting up and squinting her old eyes at his face. 
“A human yeh?” she said with a bright, almost senile smile. “Well gall tootin! I ain’t seen one of yer kind in a long time!” 
Applejack cut in before Ryan could explain. 

“I hope you don’t mind Granny, but Ryan here’s a bit lost.” She explained. “He’s in the human army ya see, but he got separated from his unit by accident. He just needs a place to stay for awhile until he can get back with them.” 
Granny Smith nodded her head completely understanding. 
“Oh that’s fine with me child!” 
Ryan smiled heartily at her. Even though she was a very old pony, she had the energy and charisma of a high school boy! Granny Smith took Ryan’s hand by her hooves (Ryan still was shocked at how ponies could grasp objects without fingers) and led me to the kitchen. 
“C’mon in there human child!” she practically sang as she took him to the kitchen. 

Ryan nodded back with a laugh. 
“Oh yeah,” he spoke back with a smile. “It’s been awhile since I had a home cooked meal.” 
Although Ryan enjoyed hunting while he was living on his uncle’s farm and had once worked at a butcher shop, Ryan was not the best chef. Before joining the army; he lived on a diet of gas station breakfast sandwiches, cold cut meat sandwiches, and frozen pizzas. 

While the army kept him well fed, freeze dried rice, beef jerky, overcooked vegetables, and MRE’s were definitely not an A classed meal. 
“I can kill and butcher animals I just can’t cook them.” He would often tell his fellow soldiers.

Granny Smith went to the fireplace which had a hot cauldron full of what appeared to be some sort of soup. Ryan couldn’t help but lift his nostrils and smell the savory aroma. 
“So what’s cooking?” he asked with curiosity and went to the cooking cauldron. Granny smith walked up and stirred it a little with her wooden spoon. 
“Oh just a little potato and vegetable stew.” She said as she took a sip of it with her spoon. “Hmmm, not quite done yet.” 

Applejack came from behind and tapped Ryan on his shoulder. 
“Hey, how’s about I show ya to yer room while Granny’s still cooking supper.” She told him. 
Ryan nodded and went to the front entrance to grab his rifle and backpack. Applejack escorted him to a large door that was located at the side of the stairway. 
“Hope you don’t mind sleeping in the basement.” She said with an earnest look. 
“Oh that’s fine.” He nodded in return as she led him downstairs in the basement. 

The basement was a little larger than Ryan thought it would be. While it was cold, it was still very friendly and was definitely a much better than the barracks he had slept in. The basement had a single window which allowed some outside light in. But other than that the basement was dependent on lantern light. There were stacks of what appeared to be empty glass jars and farming supplies. To the corner was a small bed which Ryan assumed he would be sleeping in while he stayed here. 
“Sure it isn’t the best place to sleep…” she started but Ryan just smiled and giggled. 
“Oh it’s perfect.” He laughed back. “In the army, I was trained to sleep on rocks with nothing but a sleeping bag. Compared to that, your basement is a five star hotel!” 
AJ gave her best smile trying to hide the fact that she was blushing, again. Ryan set down his rifle and army pack and inspected the bed. 
“Yeah this should work.” He approved with a nod. He then looked at Applejack and once again, Applejack got a look at Ryan’s blue eyes. 
“Again, thank you so much AJ.” He thanked her with a smile. “You wanna know something; you’re the first pony who didn’t treat me with disrespect because I’m a human.” 
Now Applejack was blushing brighter than a red delicious apple. 
C’mon Applejack he’s just a guest remember. AJ reminded herself when she felt the fuzziness she felt when she first met him. But she couldn’t help it. Little did she know, Ryan was feeling the same way. The two just stared at each other, neither seeming to look away. 

“Soups on every pony!!!” they heard Granny Smith shout which broke their silence. 
“Uhhhhh, we should probably go to dinner.” AJ replied with a hesitant faux smile. 
Ryan had the same look on his face. 
“Uh yeah, I’m starving.” He answered. “You can head up though; I’ll be up in a few seconds. Just, uhhh… need to unpack a few things.” 
AJ nodded back. 
“Sure.” She replied nervously. She then headed back upstairs leaving Ryan alone. 
He sat down on his bed shocked at himself. 
Why do I feel this way about her!? He thought to himself. Never had he felt this way about any of the ponies before. What was up? 
But he did his best to try to ignore them. He got up and headed upstairs, his head still full of conflicted emotions towards his hostess.