//------------------------------//
// The Orchard 
// Story: New Digs 
// by ThatLimeyFuck 
//------------------------------//

With time, the pair eventually made it to the farm, Applejack piping up as it came into view. "Well, here we are, Sweet Apple Acres!" Surveying the area and spotting a large concentration of trees around, Shovel Knight quickly realised exactly what this place was. As if the name didn't give it away. "Ah, an orchard. I assume this isn't a one man-er-a one pony job?"

"You'd be right there, me and my brother Big Mac do most of the work 'round here, and my lil' sister Applebloom helps out from time to time." As she spoke, Shovel Knight caught sight of a large red pony, without wings or a horn, which he immediately assumed was the aforementioned brother, hauling a large cart of apples behind him, heading towards the barn Applejack mentioned earlier. "The barn's where we keep our apples, tools, supplies and all that sorta stuff, but I'm sure we could find room for you. When Twilight came for me, we were in the middle of collecting the apples, and, clearly, the job ain't quite done yet."

"Would I able to lend my help? You're showing me hospitality, after all, it's only right that I repay you for it."
"Well, that'd be appreciated. There ain't many trees left to get apples from, so me and Big Mac'd be able to get the rest of them, but just over there, behind the barn, are a pair of dead trees. We don't like to keep 'em around for long, so, if you're any good as ya say ya are, d'ya reckon you could take 'em down?"
Bringing his shovel down off of his shoulder, Shovel Knight chuckled as he headed off where she had sent him. "I don't think so - I know so. Give me some time, and it'll be done."
Heading inside the barn and coming out with a bucket, Applejack gave a grin as she went to join Big Mac in collecting the apples.
"That's what I like to hear! Let me know when you're done, okay?"

Coming across a pair of short, leafless trees, Shovel Knight found himself in refreshingly familiar territory, having lost count of the times he'd done this. Swinging the shovel fast and hard into the tree left a large mark, growing bigger and bigger as he hit the tree over and over. Before long, the first tree came down, followed by the second minutes later. Pleased with his work, Shovel Knight headed back around to the front of the barn, taking a quick peek inside.

True to Applejack's word, there was a lot inside, carts, buckets, barrels, wood, a stockpile of rocks, all manner of equipment and supplies. So much so that it could be a little claustrophobic, he thought to himself. Leaving it behind, he wondered if that wood was being put to use, furthermore, what those trees were going to be used for. 

Leaving the barn behind, he made his way over to where Applejack and Big Mac continued to strike the trees, yielding a shower of apples falling from above. As Applejack picked up the last of the apples from the tree they stood by, her gaze wandered, coming to rest on Shovel Knight coming towards them, her eyes widening in surprise, though her brother hardly seemed fazed. 
"Y-You're done already?" Shovel Knight cocked a grin beneath his concealing helmet. "Never doubt my shovel. It seems there are a few trees left, shall I help?"

Applejack stuttered for a second in shock. He really was as good as he sounded. The two of us are gonna get along just fine, she thought. "Uh, yeah, sure, just grab a bucket and ya can help us gather these up quicker." Shovel Knight jogged back to the barn and grabbed an empty bucket, and made his way back towards an unoccupied tree. Setting the bucket down on the ground, he gave the tree a hard whack with the flat back of his shovel, feeling the strong impact shoot through his arms. 

The leaves shook fiercely, and the apples came loose, plummeting to the ground, one or two landing in the bucket, the rest on the ground, and one bouncing off of Shovel Knight's helmet with a -thunk- that reverberated around inside it. Finished with this tree, he collected up the apples into the bucket, and moved onto the next one, taking care to avoid any fruit-based bombardment.

Before long, the containers were full, and the trees were clean of apples, the cart and buckets left in the barn. "That was some nice work, Shovel Knight, I can tell you're gonna come in handy in the future."
"Thank you. If I may ask, what do you plan to do with the felled trees?"
Applejack responded the closest thing to a shrug that a quadruped can perform, as Big Mac emerged from the barn with a foreleg wrapped around a wood axe.
"Not much, we usually just chop 'em up and use the wood for little things here and there that need them."
"I see, and how long does each tree usually last you?"
"Depending on what we need it for and how much wood we need, they can last anywhere between a week or two to a month or more."
"If it's alright, may I make use of the wood of one of them, and some of the rocks inside?"
"Sure, I guess. What for?"
"While I appreciate the offer of accommodation in the barn, I'd prefer to sleep by a campfire."
"Really? Ya sure you'll be fine outside?"
"Believe me, many a night of mine has been spent asleep by a roaring fire built by my own hands. I have no doubt the experience will be similar here."
"Well, if ya say so."

The trio headed behind the barn to the two fallen trees, stripping them of their lifeless branched and cutting them down to size with ease, Big Mac's into small pieces like the ones inside the barn, and Shovel Knight's into several small chunks and one long log. Taking his share of the wood a little way away from the buildings, he rolled the log to a stop, and left the wood in a pile, surrounding it with rocks. The sky had faded to a dark purple, the last remnants of the sun's light bleeding over the horizon.

Setting the wood ablaze with a strike of shovel on stone, Shovel Knight planted his shovel into the ground by his side, and laid back against the log as the fire warded off the coldness and darkness of the night. Bidding Applejack and her oddly quiet brother good night, he laid his head against the log, the fire's light dimming from his view as sleep overtook him.

-----

He found himself in the same place again.
The all-hiding fog.
The cloud surrounding him.
But something was wrong.
There was no red glint in the sky.
The normal dream was shattered, as the ghostly voice did not call out to him.

But something else did.

"This one seems interesting..."