Incomprehensible whispers, like taunting phantoms echoed, passing seemingly from ear to ear in the blackness of the void. Some sounded like they were trying to talk to him, others laughed, some even screamed. The metallic thud of an armored boot rang out above them, silencing any further utterances as a single, authoritative voice echoed, piercing the fresh silence.

"All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance - I bestow upon you, my chosen knight."

Ezikeal's eyes shot open and a hand grabbed the sheathed sword at his side. He quickly calmed when he saw his surroundings. It's fine...I'm fine. He thought as his breathing slowed. As quickly as it came, his fear subsided, recognizing the voice as only a memory. Only a taunting, agonizing memory... He wasn't used to sleep, nor prepared for what dreams it might bring him now that he could. He looked down at his blade as a pondering thought entered his head. I should probably figure out how to get another sword so I don't have to go maximum force on any conflict that arises...now that I have that option. He looked out the window, seeing it was very early morning still. He saw Applejack approaching the barn, now dressed in clothes that looked ready to be worked in.

"How ya doing up there, Ezikeal?" She called, seeing him looking down at her.

"I slept well, thank you for providing me a place to sleep," He called back as she walked through the barn door.

"Ah, it's no problem at all, always happy ta help out somebody in need," She tipped her hat at him, "You got any plan on where you're headed? We're right near Ponyville," She said, grabbing a few hefty looking baskets that were set aside.

"I've never been," He admitted, watching her.

"Oh I know that, never seen ya around these parts in my life, I'm just wonderin' where yer going off ta with nothin' but a sword." She seemed bemused at his circumstances, not that he could blame her. It was unusual if he was a wanderer to have practically nothing on him.

"I didn't really plan ahead when I ended up out here," He said, starting to come down the ladder, noticing her eye lingering on him for a few long moments as he did so. Yeah. Definitely not just admitting I'm from another world full of death and destruction on a global scale... Whatever it is she saw in that look at him, she seemed satisfied enough and continued moving the baskets.

"Do you need any aid?" He asked. It seemed rude to take such generous hospitality and not offer some kind of return to that charity. She paused, giving him an appraising once over.

"I don't suppose ya ever done any apple bucking before?" At the shake of his head, "I can show ya 'n have ya try it, see what ya got. C'mon."

Ezikeal followed, confusion and curiosity melding together in his mind. Apple...bucking? He followed Applejack to the apple trees, where she set out several baskets under a decently sized tree and took a position in front of it. She was facing away from it, and looked at him.

"So the idea is, ya find yerself a tree and you just give it a..." Her stance widened slightly, followed by her raising her leg up and driving it back. A loud thump rang out as her boot impacted the thick trunk of the tree. Ezikeal raised an eyebrow in surprise, seeing her planted foot sink into the ground a little bit from the resulting force. The thick trunk of the tree itself shook noticeably from the force of the impact, much to Ezikeal's further surprise. Apples began falling out of the tree, landing in and beside the baskets. He had to admit two things right away: first, that was not a kick he would wanted to be on the wrong side of and secondly, the method is surprisingly efficient.

"What're ya thinkin, partner? Wanna give it a shot?" She looked, a self-satisfied smile forming as she took in his impressed look.

"I don't think I'll be anywhere near as impressive, but I'll give it a try," He set his sword down in the grass and helped Applejack put the rest of the apples in the baskets and move to a new tree. He stood where Applejack instructed.

"Ya bring your foot up like that, yes good, and then ya kick it back and give a nice strong buck," Ezikeal followed her instructions, bringing his knee up and looking back at the tree.

You've faced death itself, why feel intimidated by a tree?

Because you aren't a soldier of death itself any longer, human. You're weak now and your mind knows it. The thought bit into him.

Ezikeal let out a harsh breath and slammed his foot back into the trunk of the tree. A thunk sounded off an a small pain ran up his leg. He caught his balance before he fell and watched as several apples seemed to knock themselves loose and fall, but nowhere near as much as Applejack. She gave a whistle.

"Good start, ya got nice power," She came up next to him and spun into a kick, knocking the rest down, "With a bit of practice I reckon you could clear a whole tree in a few kicks." The two filled those baskets and took them to the collection area, grabbing some more baskets and heading out to some more trees.

"Seems like a lot of trees for just one person," Ezikeal remarked as he set some more baskets out.

"Ah, well, my brother, Big Mac is helpin' too, he's off somewhere on the other side with the wagon gettin' the far trees," She said, turning into another kick and clearing a tree. Ezikeal took the cue to begin trying to do his own tree. He focused more this time, landing a solid blow on the trunk and down came a small rain of apples. It took four more to fully clear the tree. Ezikeal let out a breath, his heart rate picking up as he worked on another tree.

A few trees soon became ten, then twenty and so on as the sun rose up through the sky. When his right leg became sore from the impacts he would switch to his left to give it a rest before switching back. The activity was reminding him of the training he had saw some monks doing in Pandaria with rocks instead of trees. Ezikeal had worked up a sweat and was breathing harder by the time noon hit. All the same, the exhilaration of feeling worked, of feeling tired out, kept him going. It reminded him again that he was truly alive. Applejack was appreciative of his help, and he was glad to be of use. Positive, productive use, that is.

"Sis' I got some food for y'all!" A young girl called. Ezikeal looked over, seeing a young girl, roughly ten or so by his estimate, light scarlet hair and orange eyes, wearing blue shorts with a red flannel over a white shirt. She was waving at Applejack, who was taking some filled baskets back. She chuckled and waved back.

"Time fer a break, ya been workin' real hard out here, I'm thankful fer it," She said.

"It's no problem, I'm glad to be of use after you were kind enough to a stranger," His thanks was sincere, he had expected to be turned away but instead she accepted him without hardly a second thought.

She doesn't know what monster she invited into her home. How many souls you have snuffed out before they even had a chance! The smile Ezikeal had faded some and he shook the thought from his head. He took his baskets to the collection spot and followed Applejack to her sister.

"Right, Ezikeal, this here's Applebloom, my sister. Applebloom, this here's Ezikeal, the visitor I mentioned." Applebloom looked Ezikeal up and down before extending a hand.

"Nice ta meet ya, Sir," She said, giving a formal looking nod as she spoke. Ezikeal couldn't help the smile forming as he reached down, shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, too," He said, "I hear you got some food prepared?"

"Yessir, it's inside, some nice toast and some apple dumplings and more," She said, looking up with sparkling eyes as she listed the food. Only then, hearing her talk about the food, did Ezikeal register how hungry he actually felt. His stomach growled.

The sound of wheels turning interrupted their greetings and Ezikeal glanced over, eyebrow raising at the man he saw approaching. A tall man, built like a tank, was pulling a large cart practically overflowing with apples. This must be Big Mac. The name cemented itself in his mind. This family was built like some of the strongest monks he had met on Azeroth, Applejack displaying a kick that could likely measure up to them with some honing and Big Mac could probably do equally as well. Big Mac set the cart aside and approached them. He looked Ezikeal over with cautious eyes and Ezikeal noticed that, unlike Applejack, who was similar in height to him, Big Mac was almost a full head taller.

"Big Mac, this here's Ezikeal. He's been helping us buck trees since this morning." Ezikeal met his gaze, the silent stare planting seeds of uncertainty in his head.

"It is nice to meet you," He tried.

"Eyup." Big Mac nodded, giving his sister a look. Applejack nodded and Big Mac shrugged, patting Ezikeal on the shoulder as he walked by him. Ezikeal looked at Applejack as they started walking to the house. What was that?

"He don't trust folk as easily as I do," Ezikeal nodded, the smell of food reaching his nose as he entered the house. He came to a table with various apple-based foods. The apple dumplings, along with toast, along with a few other baked goods for them to enjoy. He took a seat, extending thanks to Applebloom for arranging the food and looked at Applejack.

"I must thank you again for letting me stay for as long as I have, you didn't need to, but I'm thankful that you have."

"Why, did folks not often give ya a place to stay where ya come from?" Applebloom asked.

"Nothing like this," Ezikeal answered, taking a bite of toast. His mind practically froze up. He could taste it. Really taste it. He ate more, emotion welling up inside him at the tastes. Applejack glanced his way, head tilting ever so slightly before digging in to her own meal.

"Well I wouldn't have thought this was anything too special," Applebloom said, munching on her own food, "Least we could do fer a pony helping out my sis' is let 'em eat with us."

"Eyup," Big Mac chimed in.

There it is again...pony? He said nothing and continue to eat, letting silence prevail amongst them until Applebloom spoke up again.

"Yer an adventurer?" She asked.

Small nod, "Of sorts."

"Ya must've seen some amazing things out there, right?" Excitement bubbled up in her words and she looked at Ezikeal with wide eyes. Oh boy... Ezikeal thought. If she kept asking questions he wasn't gonna be able to answer it would be highly suspect, and he didn't want to make enemies yet, especially of the people who had been so nice to him thus far. An idea struck him.

"I was an adventurer in distant, obscure lands before arriving here," It was a small lie, the continents of Azeroth and Draenor weren't exactly obscure, but he needed to mask his world with some vagueness. It was safe to assume there were some hidden lands on this world nobody knew about, hell, some places on Azeroth were magically hidden until recently. He watched Applebloom's wide eyes grow even wider and she let out a gasp.

"Tell me about 'em!"

"I'm a decent bit curious myself," Applejack spoke up, but her tone seemed to lack Applebloom's enthusiasm, rather it was a curiosity mixed with...something else he couldn't place.

"Ah, I don't know..."

"Please, please, please!?" Applebloom pressed. The wonder in her eyes touched him, working at his resistance.

"Alright, alright," Ezikeal couldn't help a chuckle at her persistence, "One place I spent time in and adventured through was called the Stranglethorn Vale, a lush jungle full of ancient ruins and tribes of trolls." He put some emphasis on his words to try and make it sound more exciting than it really was to the young girl. She gasped, practically bouncing in her seat.

"Trolls!? I thought they hid in caves... I only heard about 'em when Twilight was helpin' us try to get our biologist pony cutie marks an' we found that book on the creatures of Equis," She said excitedly. Ezikeal blinked. A what mark? Equis? This land is Equis. Okay, 100% confirmation that I'm not anywhere I would know, that's good, I think.

Applebloom gasped, "Oh, Mr. Ezikeal, what's yer cutie mark?"

A moment of tense silence fell, Ezikeal having no idea how to reply to the innocent question. He was left scrambling to figure out a reply when Applejack coughed.

"I would wanna hear more about this here 'Stranglethorn' forest ya were speakin' of," She said, breaking the awkward silence between them and Ezikeal jumped on the escape.

"The jungle is beautiful, tall, green trees that could block the sun, beaches on nearly every side. The monuments that the troll tribes had built in the area were astonishing, carvings and statues surrounded their structures," he kept Applebloom engaged in his description, watching her hang onto every word he said.

"What'd ya do there?" Ezikeal heard the question, but he had a plan to say for that type of question already.

"Some of the structures had been abandoned when some of the tribes left the area, I found some of the ruins and explored for treasure."

"Oh, did ya find any!?"

"A little bit."

Off of corpses. You slaughtered them like animals to put down a rising tribe at the whim of your leaders! A voice cut through Ezikeal's mind. He faltered, blinking before recovering himself.

You know that's not all there was to it. He shot back at the intrusive thought.

"Now Applebloom, don't go tryin' to find no dangerous ruins fer some treasure huntin' mark," Applejack said sternly to her sister, who waved a hand.

"I'd never do somethin' like that!" At the look Applejack gave her, "Okay maybe I would, but I won't now!" She held her hands up in mock surrender.

"I mean it, ya worry me sometimes," Applejack huffed.

The rest of the meal was filled with idle small talk before they finished. Big Mac was the first to leave, and Ezikeal left with Applejack to start heading back towards the apple trees.

"Ezikeal-" Applejack started.

"Hey, AJ!" A voice called out, interrupting Applejack. The sound of wings caught Ezikeal's attention as he looked for the voice and he looked up, seeing a woman with...wings, gliding down to them. She kicked her legs forwards and landed on the ground in front of them with a small "hup." She was wearing a blue leather jacket with a black shirt under it, with darker blue colored shorts that didn't go down too her legs that much. It revealed a cloud with a rainbow thunderbolt coming out of it in her mid thigh. She had wild rainbow hair and magenta eyes. Two large, blue feathered wings folded at her back, framing her athletic build after her landing.

"Hey there, Rainbow Dash!" Applejack greeted. Rainbow Dash gave Ezikeal a suspicious look.

"Who's he?" She gestured at him.

"This here's Ezikeal, we gave him a place ta stay the night and now he's helpin' clear the apple trees, doin' a mighty fine good job of it too," Applejack explained.

"So he just...showed up? Where from?" She was acting much more openly suspicious than Applejack had.

"I'm not from around here-"

"You some kind of spy, huh? Who do you work for!?" She took an aggressive step forwards, but was stopped by Applejack grabbing her shoulder. Ezikeal was glad he had put his sword back up by his bed in the loft, that would definitely not have eased any suspicions about his intent.

"Now Rainbow Dash, Ezikeal's been nothin' but pleasant since he arrived," She said, admonishing the defensive pegasus.

"Er, sorry," She said, backing up, "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria," She said, puffing her wings and raising her head, "Applejack seems to trust you, so I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," She stepped forwards and poked him in the chest, "But you do anything to hurt her and I'll make you feel it ten times as much."

"Noted," Ezikeal said, stepping away from the accusatory finger, "I don't have any intentions of hurting anyone, especially the person who gave me a place to stay so generously," He said. Applejack gave a small sigh at the exchange, prompting Dash to back up again, giving a nod that said "we have an understanding, then." Ezikeal just nodded back and her tone shifted almost immediately to a more cheerful mood.

"Good to meet you, then. Anyway, Applejack, I was coming to tell you that it's gonna rain soon, so get as much done here as you can before this evening, it's gonna be a big storm so you'll probably wanna stay inside for it." Ezikeal looked up at the sky, seeing it was practically clear aside from one or two small clouds.

"Are you sure..? It doesn't look like a storm is coming from anywhere..."

"Well, yeah, we haven't moved the clouds yet, dude," She brushed off, before noticing the perplexed look on his face and tilting her head. "What? You never see a pegasus move the clouds or something?"

"Ezikeal's from...pretty far away, they don't got any ponies in charge of the weather where he's from," Applejack chimed in.

"You just...move the clouds?" Controlling the weather wasn't unheard of to him, it was just most who were powerful enough to effect nature like that never did too much, figuring it was wasted effort of their strength.

"Yeah, we get some clouds and we move them into the sky. Today we got a big storm, so we'll be putting giant clouds all over. I got called into an extra shift helping out, cuz I'm that amazing. Just watch the sky later, you'll see me up there-others too." She said, the slivers of ego slipping through her cool persona again.

"I'll keep a look out," Ezikeal said.

"Thanks fer lettin' me know, Dash," Applejack said, tipping her hat.

"No problem! Alright, gotta go!" She shot off the ground with a flap of her wings and zipped away into the sky. Ezikeal watched her fly away. She's definitely backing her claim of being fast, huh. He thought, before turning to Applejack.

"What were you saying before, Applejack?"

"Ah, nothin' come on, we got ta clear out some more trees before the storm. If yer still fine helpin' out that is?"

"Of course, let's go."

Second chapter done

Again, feedback or ways to improve are appreciated