"Alright then, goodbye Anon!"

"See ya in the afternoon Flutters."

Anon waved to the buttercup mare as he walked away with a towel in his hand and a small, carefully-wrapped sandwich in his other hand. It was the weekend and Anon was going to help the Apple family with some good old manual labour. Of course, he was being paid a few bits an hour, but he only cared about having fun with the family, especially when it came to the young and adorable Applebloom.

Fortunately, Rainbow Dash was forcefully locked in her own home until her season ended, leaving Anon with some much needed peace as he casually walked towards his destination.

He greeted ponies on his way there, and even had conversations with some of the mares. They were short and sweet, with most of them being about his size and them questioning where his marefriend was. He quickly realised that the public had been given the illusion that Rainbow Dash was his marefriend, due to his previous situations with her and the fact that she was always by his side.

He felt embarrassed each time he was asked where she was, but he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have her as a marefriend. He just assumed that even if she was in a relationship with him, she's act like nothing had ever happened, since she's rather bashful when it came to those things.

As he neared the Apple residence, he saw Applebloom waiting patiently at the arch of Sweet apple acres. She quickly perked up at the sight of the human and ran towards him.

"Anon!" She shouted.

"Hey screwball." He kneeled to catch her as she leapt to his arms, cuddling her as she nuzzled his cheek.

"Welcome home! I mean, welcome to our home!" She corrected herself. Anon chuckled as he entered Sweet apple acres. He passed by Big Mac, who was nodding off while he was painting a new coat of paint on the fence.

"Be careful there Mac, you might end up painting yourself white." Anon shouted to wake the stallion up, causing him to drop the brush from his mouth. Applebloom giggled as she pointed at the line of drool that connected the brush to his mouth.

Applejack left the barn-like home to greet Anon with a large smile. She had a few buckets on her back, which was obviously for picking the apples up from the ground.

"Ya ready for some manual labour Anon?" She asked him.

"Yep, just wait a few minutes so I can get this bugger off me." Anon said as he playfully wrestled with the young filly. Applejack watched him, keeping that smile on her face. She admired his ability to fit in well with her family-which was a difficult task for most visitors. After intentionally losing to Applebloom, he drops her to the ground and hands her his lunch.

"Here, take a half of Fluttershy's super sandwich. I'm sure she won't mind." He handed it to her.

"It..has no apples?"

"Yep, it'll mean that you're going to taste something new." Anon said as Applebloom stared with curiosity. He left her on her own devices and followed Applejack with his towel on his shoulder.

"Has that kid eaten anything that doesn't have an apple in it?" He asked.

"Beats me." She said as they both walked into the orchard fields.

To start with, Applejack told Anon that they had to clear one side of the field by nightfall, which was more than enough time to pick or buck all of the apples. Anon brought out all of the empty barrels whilst Applejack immediately started.

Anon picked the apples from the tree, throwing them down the barrel with precision. Admittedly, he was much slower than Applejack, who could buck the trees with ease, but his help was better than nothing, especially when Big Mac was off doing other things.

Usually, By the time he had finished plucking a tree from apples, Applejack would have cleared 3 trees in that time. But still, he had his own strengths, such as the ability to carry the barrels, which was something that neither Applejack nor Big Mac could do. Soon after plucking his 12th tree, Anon decided to just carry the barrels since Applejack had advanced further than him.

Applejack often saw glimpses of Anon rolling the barrels alongside her. She could hear his heavy breathing and the sweat on his forehead as he worked under the hot sun.

"Can we uhh...take a break? I feel like I'll melt if I work for too long." Anon panted.

Feeling guilty for taking shade in the trees as she worked, Applejack agreed for a short break.

Anon sat beside her, panting as he struggled to remove his shirt.

"I'm gonna have to wash this before I go back home." Anon grumbled.

"Why?" Applejack questioned.

"Well I can't go back half-naked can I?" He replied as he looked at her.

"Y-yeah." She stuttered as she pulled down her stetson.

The two sat in silence as the afternoon sun roasted the ground. Fortunately, they sat under the protective shade of the tree so that they could rest in peace. Anon took this time to quickly nap before it ends, whilst Applejack awkwardly sat next to him fidgeting with her hooves.

'Ah shouldn't look. It's bad! Besides, what's there to look at? He's shirtless, that's all..' She blushed.

She kept her head down and faced her own body.

'Look at me, ah'm shirtless, now does it make a difference if ah see Anon shirtless? No! So quit fiddlin' around and grow up ya filly!'

She sighed quietly, raising her head to see Anon's sleeping face. She felt his hand brush across her hoof.

'....It's just holding hooves right? There's nothing wrong with that.' She stared at his hand, then back to hers, then to his again. She snaked her hoof inside his hand, causing Anon to unconsciously hold it.

Applejack had her sights fixated towards her hand and Anon's. Her breathing became erratic and her heart pounded. Her head ached and her cheeks flushed.

'J-just...holding hooves...that's it.'

She closed her eyes as she leaned next to Anon, joining him in his short nap.

"Yo, Applejack."

"Hm?"

"Applejack."

"What?"

"Wake up, you overslept."

Applejack flicked her eyes open, only to be greeted by the sight of dusk and Anon with a half-hearted smile. Panic quickly coursed through her body as she sprang into action.

"Alright! You carry the barrels to the barn and ah'll buck the trees as fast as ah can!" She ordered him.

"Applejack" Anon said.

"If we do this right, then we'll be done in a few minutes or so! Alright let's move!" She stood up.

"Applejack." Anon replied.

"Anon! Why aren't ya listening! We need ta get them app-"

"Dude! I've already done them." Anon shouted to get her attention.  "Take a look."

Applejack calmed down and looked around. To her surprise, she saw a continuous line of all the apple trees, perfectly green and picked clean of apples. Applejack calmed down, but quickly became curious.

"H-how did ya do it?" She asked him.

"Uhh...magic." He smiled.

"Yeah, right. But seriously, how?"

"You don't have to worry about that." Anon said as he walked with towards the barn. "Come on, let's go." He put his hands in his pants, casually walking back with Applejack by his side.

"Ya got the barrels in the barn as well?" She added.

"Already stacked up in a cool place." He replied.

Anon and Applejack returned to the barn-like house, tired and sweaty from work. Applebloom ran upstairs to get a towel for her sister whilst Anon went to the bathroom.

"I'll just be washing my hands for a sec." His voice trailed off as he left the room.

Applejack stood by the kitchen counter, getting ready to prepare a meal. She was about to start when Applebloom shouted from upstairs.

"Sis! Ask Anon about what he wants to eat fer supper!"

"Why don't you do it?" Applejack shouted back.

"Ah'm busy getting ya a towel!" Applebloom replied.

Sighing, Applejack frustratedly walked out of the kitchen and straight to the bathroom, where Anon was. She saw that the door was slightly open with the sound of water splashing around. She thought that Anon was just washing his hands, so it was fine to enter without permission.

As she got closer, she could hear hissing and groaning, as if someone was in pain. Applejack slowed down, making her footsteps quiet as she tried to figure out on what was going on. She peered into the crack and saw Anon by the sink, seemingly washing his hands casually. Everything seemed fine, which made her think more about why there was hissing involved.

Soon enough, she found her answer as Anon raised his hands from the sink.

They were coloured in a sickly red, where the colour seems to deepen around the joints of his fingers and his knuckles. They didn't seem to be bleeding, but the pale red water on the sink says otherwise.

"Bucking trees would be so much better than trying to climb them." Anon chuckled. "Isn't that right, Applejack?"

She reared back in surprise, moving away from the crack.

"Yeah, I knew you were coming here when I heard Applebloom shouting upstairs." He looked at the crack in the bathroom door, finding no-one to be there. Soon enough, he found Applejack's emerald eyes moving to it and observing his hands once more.

"...Did it hurt?" She said from the door.

"I'll be fine, it's  just a few bruises." Anon continued to wash his hands, further colouring the rose-coloured waters of the sink.

"A few bruises? You're bleeding, Anon."

"It won't kill me, and it'll probably heal up by tomorrow." Anon rubbed his injured hands at a nearby rag and fully opened the door, revealing Applejack. "Now, quit worrying about me and start cooking. I'm mighty hungry."

"Roger, boss." Applejack saluted as she returned to the kitchen, causing Anon to smile and chuckle as he followed her.

Supper was as delicious as it could be for a family that used apples in all of their meals. Anon was repeatedly requested by Applebloom and Granny Smith to make his signature apple fritters, but he sadly refused, making up and excuse so that he didn't have to alert anypony else about his injuries.

Anon conversed with the family, making jokes along the way and praising Applebloom or Applejack on the dishes that they made. Big Mac quietly ate his meal, listening in on the laughter and conversations that his family had. Granny Smith had quenched her appetite on her 3rd slice of apple pie and promptly fell asleep on the table when she couldn't eat any more.

Applebloom sat next to Anon, slipping by a few portions of her meal to him throughout the dinner. She was never a fussy eater, but it seemed as though she had lost her appetite after having the same apple pie and and apple fritters on the side (courtesy of Applejack wanting to learn how to cook like Anon does). She left after she had 'finished' her meal, since she had homework to do in the day before it was handed in.

Applejack occasionally pitched in on the conversations, but she always kept an eye towards Anon and his hands. She saw how he managed to eat his meal without showing them too much by just using his mouth to dip onto the plate and eat the slices. This strange act amused Applebloom and Granny smith, but they stopped minding it a few minutes into the meal.

As always, Big Mac was the one to wash the dishes whilst Applebloom cleared the table. Anon and Applejack were allowed to laze around on the sofa since they spent the entire day working...or rather just Anon spending the entire day working.

Anon sat on one end with his  arms hugging a pillow so that he could hide his fingers whilst Applejack was on the other side. Guilt stuck to her mind like a heavy anchor. She felt sorry for him to overwork himself, but she was also glad that he saved both their butts for slacking off in the morning. She looked at him and his sleepy face, giggling all the while.

"Work get to ya?"

"Maybe. It's either that or you put sleeping pills on my food." Anon struggled to keep his eyes peeled open as his head bobbled. He inched closer to Applejack, putting his pillow next to her. "Would you care if I slept here for the night?"

"You can take my bedroom, if you want." Applejack suggested.

"That's too much. I'm fine just sleeping here." Anon replied.

"Ah'm not letting a guest sleep like a hermit in our home."

"Well I'm not a guest. I'm as close to a family member as I can get with your family." Anon smirked.

"That's even worse. Family members shouldn't sleep in sofas, they should sleep in beds." Applejack argued as she went right up to Anon's face, looking at him sternly.

"Well, what bed should I sleep in then?"

Anon sat at the edge of the soft bed, looking around Applejack's plain room.

"I was expecting a hay stack." Anon joked.

"Har har." Applejack punched him on the shoulder. "You can sleep there for tonight, I'll be on the couch....after all, you deserve it."

Anon smiled at her, and she returned the gesture.

"Well, we could always just sleep on the same bed if you want to." Anon said as he shifted into the sheets. "If you're okay with sleeping with a guy on the same bed." He was shuffling a little bit for a few seconds, only for him to suddenly pull out his shirt form under the covers and put it down on the floor.

Applejack stared at the comfy bed, then back to Anon, then at the pillows that had apples on them.

'Ah mean...we're just sleeping on the same bed...nothing wrong with that.'

"Ah don't know...I'm not used to sleeping with someone by mah side...especially with a human."

"It's not like we're a couple anyway, we're just sleeping on the same bed." Anon took one half of the pillows and turned around, facing his back to her. "I'll even do this so that you won't be bothered."

Applejack approached the bed, slowly climbing in the satin sheets. She took the other half of the pillows, resting her head on them.

"Ya don't have to do that Anon." Applejack. "After all, we're just sleeping on the bed." She tapped his side.

Anon turned around, lying on his back as he stares at the ceiling.

"Good, because I could never sleep in that position." He laughed, causing Applejack to giggle.

Silence ensued at the two ceased to speak. Applejack kept her eyes on Anon as he looked up. She inched slowly to him, wiggling her body next to his in silence.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, She felt his hand come across her back and push her straight to his side, making her gasp lightly. Bewildered, she looked at him.

"You know, you're the worst at trying to sneak up on me." Anon said as he stared at her right in the eyes. "If you needed a cuddle, all you could do was to just ask, y'know."

"S-sorry." She snuggled closer to him, hugging his side and resting her head on his right shoulder. "Sorry for making ya do all the work while I slept." She said as she planted her muzzle on his body, muffling her voice.

"It's alright. You're a hard worker, so it's only right that you get to relax." Anon replied.

She felt his heartbeat as she pressed her head against his body. She could feel the warm heat from his skin as her hoof moved up and down his chest, feeling his tense and tired muscles.

To her, he might as well be a strong and tall stallion. A stallion that can fit in with her family well and a stallion that is as diligent of a worker as she is. He was attractive as he could be in her eyes, not because of his appearance, but for his behavior and merits alone.

She wanted to hold him, to hold him tight and never let go. Her chest pounded and ached the more of him she felt and her body wilfully pressed against his side, feeling his warmth.

Next Chapter: Sweet, sweet feelings. Estimated time remaining: 9 Minutes