The morning was a cool, refreshing sort, with the smallest strands of sunlight seeping through the window onto the bed where Jonathan lay. He turned a few times, marveling at how unusually soft his bed was, how restful the sleep he had was as opposed to the nights he spent tossing about about, either kept awake by his thoughts or his own bed. He had not had an interesting dream in a while either, in addition to the fantasies of himself as a candy man, he had a bizarre dream of turning up in a world entirely unfamiliar to him, filled with odd creatures that he had become one of.
He let himself mull over his thoughts for a while before opening his eyes to be greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling, in a room that wasn't his. Panic began to set in as Jonathan wondered how he would have to explain to the owner however he ended up here, before remembering the events of the day before and calming down somewhat. He thought of pinching himself to see if it wasn't all a delusion after all, wondering why he never tried it before, but a look at his own limbs explained a lot more than anything else could.
"Ah, Jonathan! Jonathan, was it? Would you open up?"
A voice called from the doorway leading to the corridor outside the room, followed by a few knocks on the door.
"Yes? What is it?"
"Breakfast, dear!"
"What? There appears to be some mistake, I never ordered breakfast and I have no means of paying for anything at the moment-"
"Don't worry, it's courtesy of the-"
"Please, madam, you must understand, it's very nice of you to offer this room, but I simply can't pay for anything mor-"
"No, no, you don't have to do any of that, it's all-"
"Now, I would like to repay you in some way, perhaps I could help out in your establishment, but providing business is something absolutely impossi-"
"As I said, it's all on the house! Do open up so you can have your breakfast, will you?"
Despite Jonathan's continued suspicion and insistence on this being a scheme he had gone through far too many times, he opened the door, allowing the innkeeper to greet him and push in a tray of food, perhaps the most delightful he had seen in longer than he could remember. She smiled at his delighted face, then left the room before he could return to his senses to insist once more that he could not accept her gift, even if it was without the strings he imagined attached. That left him safely alone in his room with the breakfast trolley left right in the middle, as if an altar awkwardly installed for the purpose of offering him the finest of treats. He examined breakfast closely again, making sure he was seeing what he was - cake, waffles, muffins - a wide variety of the confectioneries he rarely got to enjoy in his home.
Feeling his own hunger slowly manifest, Jonathan decided he would allow himself to indulge just once and began searching for a set of utensils. Only after a few minutes did he remember that he would have difficulty with using them and promptly gave up, wondering just how he would eat. While he found that it was possible for his oddly ductile hooves to somehow grip a cupcake and bring it to his mouth, he found it most comfortable to just eat with only his mouth, keeping all limbs firm on the ground while he devoured pastry after pastry, relishing in pleasures otherwise inconceivable to him till the tray was empty and he was finally left sprawled on his back, eyes welling up in tears from sheer ecstasy.
Once done with the sudden surge of emotion he had not felt in longer than he could remember, he turned his attention to the internship offers he had received the day before. The first was about helping out in a farm somewhere in the outskirts of town, though Jonathan had little inclination for much physical work nowadays. Readying himself for the day however he could, somehow managing to put on the saddlebags provided in the wardrobe and place the guides the purple creature gave him within, he left his room into corridors, down stairs to a lobby, and out doors to where he could really enter the town he was stuck in for the first time.
Sunlight greeted him as he poked his head out of the door, making him feel somewhat different than whatever sunlight hit him as he left his former home every morning. While there it only served a reminder of his morning routine, sometimes depressingly so, here he could feel actual warmth from the sun, only mildly irritating him as he walked the streets. It was, however, not irritating enough to take his mind off work, of how his boss was probably outraged and would likely not take his being stranded and transformed as an excuse for absence. He fretted, cursing his curse for disrupting his routine, likely preventing him from ever returning to it as well, if only because he would curse the morning sunlight more.
"Hey there! You alright?"
A cyan creature with a horn growing out of its head called out to him, apparently concerned with the rather worrying manner in which he was acting. Jonathan was still awkward with the environment around him, which in conjunction to his relative unfamiliarity of his own body manifested itself into a few tics as he worried over matters he was still determined to be worried about. Even if his stopping to sigh once every while could be ignored, the spasming of his neck and legs as he did his best to learn to walk on them while at the same time ignoring the irritating sense of satisfaction he felt from walking with two pairs of new legs.
Pleasantries exchanged themselves among them, with Jonathan sputtering out a "I... oh no, I'm fine, I'm fine.." of which the recipient replied with "Is that so? Don't let yourself be dragged down on such a nice day, then! Good luck!". The creature with a brand shaped like a lyre smiled at him, leaving Jonathan a little flustered, and left. A stranger on the streets wishing him well aside, Jonathan was reminded vaguely of matters he had rather left forgotten, of an old hope that had ended in rather disastrous failure. The eventual realisation that he was being stared at for standing in the middle of the road, eyes glazed over as he lost himself in thoughts of times more cherished, shook him out of it enough to continue with his walk.
"Hey there, pardner!"
A familiar southern accent was perhaps the last thing Jonathan expected to hear once he had reached the apple farm, as an orange creature approached him, wearing a cowboy hat for some reason. Whatever constituted reason had of course broken down the very moment Jonathan had come, but he. quite wanted to have something to cling on to.
"You're... Jonathan, yeah? We met at the party yesterday! I'm Applejack, and welcome to Sweet Apple Acres! All grown up and ya still haven't found your cutie mark? That's a real shame, but no worries! Ol' Applejack's sure a good time buckin' apples'll help!
Jonathan was quite taken aback at the creature's hospitality, even if he was going to be resigned to work for her for a while. Even more so as just how she spoke or acted, not really indistinguishable from the farmers he had ran about in his youth, but almost as if idealised.
"Ah... thank you. This.. is an apple farm, is it? What will I be doing here?"
The oddity of farm animal-like animals running a farm aside, Jonathan wondered just how handless beings like themselves were even able to have a farm functioning. Wouldn't tasks like the slaughter of livestock, for one, be especially problematic? Unless they had equipment to help automate such labour, or even graspers, he found it hard to imagine how anything worked, if it even did in the same way he knew.
"Why, I just said we're going to be bucking apples, sugarcube! How else are we gonna harvest delicious apples to eat? Here, I'll show ya!"
Jonathan followed Applejack to an apple tree, where with a single powerful move she kicked the tree, causing a few apples to fall neatly into conveniently positioned baskets right under the tree.
"See? It's easy! Now you try!"
With the orange thing beckoning him on, he really had no choice but to follow through. It seemed simple enough, position himself and kick backwards, even in a body he didn't have for very long. The movement itself came surprisingly naturally to him, as if he'd always known how to do it, to just throw his legs behind him and feel the ends hit something solid. As if to congratulate this apparent discovery of the self, the thudding of a few apples falling into the baskets were heard, leaving Jonathan with a larger and stranger sense of satisfaction than ever.
A few praises later, Jonathan was left to harvest the apples on his own while Applejack attended to some other matter or another that required her to leave him be in the apple orchard. He felt his mind wandering more as he worked, somehow stimulated by the idyllic pastoralism around him. Memories of days long lost, spent on the farm some distant relative owned where he harvested apples as a youth just as he was now, albeit at the same time quite differently, slowly emerged from where he thought he had long forgotten. Even if any hope of ever reliving those days were lost with the brushfire that had removed any hope of revisiting just as he had begun to appreciate the ideals of living in nature, he never did find another chance to reclaim those times.
"Hey there, looks like you're already done! Why don't you come on in and rest a little while?"
Jonathan was slightly disappointed that he was done so quickly, at some point of his work he became lost in his own thoughts of happier days before his more recent years, and being shaken out of that which he could never really indulge was rather jarring. He looked around, only now noticing that all the baskets had been filled with succulent ripe apples presumably harvested by him, gleaming under the orange rays of a setting sun.
Applejack calling him a second time finally made him decide to move, following her to a farmhouse, likely what she called home. Treated to a chair and a drink, Jonathan's thoughts once more went back to wondering just what he would do now. The next job he had would be tomorrow, and once he had his payment he would have to leave right away, or he’d have to stay with these creatures more than he would like. He found himself obediently sitting still, hoping that things would hurry up and be done with if he shook his leg or stared at the doorway, but he was tethered by need for a living, a familiarity that comforted him slightly as it occurred to him.
"Alright, we're all done! Come on in!"
The farmer's voice came from the next room,again interrupting Jonathan from his thoughts, though at least this time he was shaken out of worries, not sweet memories of long lost times. He was brought to a dinner table, with three other ponies seated around it, all watching him expectantly.
"Here's for everything today" said Applejack as she handed him a bag of what appeared to be coins "And how about joining us for dinner? You did fine work out there, pardner, we baked a good apple pie just for you. Go on, sit!"
"No, I couldn't, really.. all I really need is some funds to last me a few days, and you've given me so much, I think it would be best if I just made a move now. Again, thank you so much, but I really mustn't impose-"
"Aww, no need to be so modest, now. That apple pie's going to go to waste if you don't eat!"
Jonathan's options now were to either shove the pony blocking the doorway to the side to make his escape, or comply with demands and seat himself at the dinner table.
"Let me introduce you to my family," announced Applejack as Jonathan finally sat, her words disquieting him somewhat. "This is my grandma, Granny Smith, this is my brother, Big Macintosh, and here's my little sister, Applebloom!"
They all gave their greetings, making Jonathan respond in kind. This sort of scene was familiar to him, family members gathered around a table for meals. He resolved to finish his pie as quickly as possible and leave, he knew what these tended to go to all too well. Soon, someone with an upset would bring their issue up, and it would all go downhill, arguments, fights and the like following. No, he thought, he wouldn't be a part of it this time, he'd leave the moment he was done, hopefully before anything transpired, and he wouldn't have to watch those kinds of interactions families usually got up to for too long.
Of course, here where his reason no longer had any bearing, as if to spite him somehow the discussion among them never had a hint of hostility, as the family of four spoke. On occasion they asked him some questions about himself, something he was still yet to be comfortable with, yet found comforting to speak out to these people. It was all so strange to him, who had never really seen family get along so well, their speeches riddled with jokes, concern and camaraderie with each other, ultimately having him join in as well. He had forgotten that he had finished his apple pie a long time ago, the taste of which was also long lost as he listened in, trying to find some way of making sense how they got along so well. He even joined in at some point, the friendliness overtaking him and stirring yet another bit of nostalgia that he tried his best not to think about as he listened and spoke in kind, ultimately enjoying interaction for the first time in far too long.
Still, it was late, and he had to leave behind this warped, odd supper. All of them said their goodbyes to him, and he left the farm back for town, still doing his best to not let the small satisfaction of walking in fours overcome. An odd wistfulness would accost him as he walked away from the farmhouse, whose lights illuminated the evening.