3 Compensation

"Rise an' shine! You got a lot of work to do!" was the greeting I received the following morning. I found my clothes in remarkably good condition on my bedside and walked downstairs to see everyone at the breakfast table. The Apple family was just as I had always seen them. Old Granny Smith at the head of the table, Big Macintosh helping Apple Bloom with her pancakes, and AJ at a wood stove frying some eggs.

"Everything looks great! Applejack, I assume you cooked all this?"
"Everythin' but the orange juice. Make sure to sample mah cookin' now, ah'm not takin any breaks until we raise that barn."

As we ate plans were discussed for the barn.

"We could use an expansion, but nopony's had the time for a while"
"Were you thinking vertically or laterally?"
"Come again?"
"Would you rather build upwards or outwards?"
"Oh, Why didn't ya just say so instead of makin' up words"
*sigh* "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, we still need to move all that rubble."
"That? Twi can take care of that in a snap!"
"You make a good point, but there's something bothering me, and I need to look over the destruction myself."
"So long as yer gettin' rid of the stuff yer not looking at it don't make no difference to me."
"Thanks," I said, taking a glance at a cuckoo clock, "Christ! It's already nine! I better get started before these cursed injuries tire me out."

I stepped out into the fresh country air and strolled over to the mound that had once been a considerably sturdy structure. I sorted the sad remains into things that could be re-used, and those things which were beyond help. Eventually, I stumbled over what I was looking for. My backpack. It had made the journey between worlds with me and only sustained a few small rips and tears. Whilst carrying the bag to the house I noticed AJ coming out the door.

"AJ," I blurted, holding up my pack, "I found what I was looking for, feel free to get Twilight's help."
"Ah was just headin' to Ponyville to get Rainbow, but I'll make sure to grab her as well."

AJ designated a spot for me to move the junk, so I hauled lumber and splinters as well as roof tiles into a heap there. At one point I had the help of Big Macintosh, but he had to leave and sell apples in Ponyville. It was a good two hours after my conversation with Applejack before she returned with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"Thank God you guys are here! I must have more splinters on my hands than skin!"
"God?" Twilight questioned.
"I'll explain later, but right now I'd be obliged if you could get rid of all this, this, this..."
"Junk?"
"Garbage?"
"Debris?"
"Bollox." I finished.

We worked until sundown, sorting and cleaning, until at last we had a clear patch of land before us. Dash and Twi headed back home and I decided to show Applejack my one piece of home. We sat in my room and unzipped the weighty knapsack.

"Here's a few textbooks, I'm sure Twilight will want to have a look at those. Amazing that a few days ago I'd been studying for finals."
"What're those?"
"These," I said, as I drew out my sketchbooks, four in all, "are for my drawings"

I showed her a portrait in Rainbow Dash's likeness, as well as one in her own, and moved on to my depictions of everything from birds to people.

"These're really incredible, but why's this one got lines on every page?"
"That's graph paper, the lines let me draw more precisely. I thought we might use it to plan out the new barn."
"What about these here?"

She was pointing to two small, black leather-bound notebooks.

"I haven't found a use for them yet, I think I'll leave those on the shelf."

I grabbed my textbooks too, and laying them on their side they read, "History of the Western World", "Algebra and Geometry", and "Chemistry and its Applications"

Opening the next compartment on my bag I found a most useful item. It was a six inch hunting knife given to me by my parents in hopes of making me go out more. It must have been forgotten in there since our last camping trip. I may not hunt, but that knife was a good thing to have when in a pickle. Applejack clearly didn't feel comfortable with it out, so I put it back in the sheathe and set it in the drawer of a night stand.

Applejack and I chatted about the barn a little while I put it on paper. We established most of the features and appearance of it, but neither of us could make any guesses as to the measurements we would use.

The next day was similar to the last. I received an early wake up call and had a good breakfast before beginning work. Applejack was able to find me a measuring tape, and using some chalk and twine I fashioned together a plum line. As I marked the ground with the plum line, AJ dragged her hoof where the walls would go. Making sure to mark down all the dimensions I turned to AJ with a smile;

"Now we only need the materials and we can build this thing."
"But where in the world are we gonna get that kind of lumber?"
"I'm sure there's plenty of dead apple trees around here right?"
"But how in the world are we gonna find them with the size of our farm?"
"I'm sure a certain pegasus would be happy to help."

Unfortunately, things were getting late, and we needed to tidy the house. As we cleaned, I asked Applejack if she would mind me going into Ponyville.

"Tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I've been wearing the same thing for a while now and I wanted to look for some other amenities."
"While you're there ah need you to pick up a few items as well."
"It'd be my pleasure."

With an exhaustive effort we finished our chore and I went up to my quarters. There I meditated again, spinning thoughts into ideas, and weaving ideas into plans. If I wanted to make a name for myself in Equestria, I'd have to do better than just fixing a barn. I had my mind set on helping anyone who needed it.

Tiring of my thoughts, I sailed of into a dreamland of colored spheres, doodles, and tea.