It was Sugar Belle who provided the winning vote when Applejack approached her family that evening with Ash Bark’s proposal. She gathered everypony in Big Mac’s room and explained the situation at hoof. Of course there were objections, mainly from Granny Smith and Big Macintosh. Mac would be better in a mere couple of weeks, and they were a strong family that takes care of one another - by themselves. However, Sugar Belle quietly spoke up, and the newest member of their family conceded that, yes, they were strong, but if this Knife Edge was as dangerous as this Ash described, and had evaded Silverstar’s bounty hunters, then there’s nothing keeping him from coming to Ponyville - except, possibly, Ash. With that, AJ went and made one of the guest bedrooms inhabitable. Later that evening, after dropping a few bits into Applejack’s hoof to “pay for room and board,” Ash Bark slunk into the bedroom, closed the door, and did not speak another word to anypony. AJ was awake most that evening, wondering how the next few weeks would pan out.  
And so they did. AJ woke that morning as she always did. She’d sold a good amount of produce yesterday, so it was time to buck her flourishing gala trees - they seemed to be the most popular apple yesterday. While scarfing down a quick breakfast before the others woke, she kept glancing at the kitchen threshold to see if the Apples’ guest would rise with her, or the rest of the family. AJ had been thinking and worrying - perhaps she had let her guard down too early, and been a bit too vulnerable in front of his near-stranger, and having such a pony in her home around her baby sister, and her sweet-as-pie-not-very-tough-future-sister-in-law, and her injured brother and aging grandmother and…  
Applejack then looked up. During her internal battle she’d set her hat on her head and walked out to the orchard just as dawn was beginning to break. A dark figure approached from the treeline. Ash Bark’s soot gray goat hid him completely in the shadows of the orchard, and AJ didn’t spot him until he moved. He trotted towards her, glancing to either side of him.  
“Mornin’. I’ve done a perimeter sweep of the farm and haven’t picked up any signs of intruders.” Ash greeted her briskly, giving his shoulders a shake before approaching the nearest gala tree. Slightly taken aback, AJ gave a quick shake of the head and took over the tree next to Ash’s. She watched carefully as he lifted both back hooves, tucked them in, glanced over his shoulder, and throw them back. The tree shook with a mighty groan, leaves rustling heavily. To Applejack’s surprise, quite a few apples tumbled to the ground. Ash met her gaze and gave a slightly haughty grin. Suddenly feeling like a filly, AJ stuck her tongue out at his snobby smile. This caused them both to chuckle lightly before Applejack gave the stallion an appreciative nod and set to her own work.  
Until noon, the two bucked the gala grove until their baskets were overflowing with fragrant pink fruit. Quite pleased that she’d been able to get ahead on her bucking, AJ began to head over to an empty field nearby, where her trusty old plow sat. Right before Mac had injured himself, they’d cleared away a portion of struggling golden delicious trees and wanted to replace them. Ash followed in curiosity, but stopped short when he saw the plow. Applejack slipped into the harness, grinning at his expression.  
“Lil’ differen’ from trees, huh?” She quipped, and for the first time, she saw the bounty hunter look a little sheepish. Laughing, she lifted a hoof and gestured to the still-healthy golden delicious trees standing tall nearby.  
“Mrs. Cake, a baker in town has ordered five pounds of goldens for a party she’s helping cater. Ya can help me out and get it done sooner rather than later.” AJ said, adjusting the strap around her barrel and digging her hooves into the dirt. She began to drag the large piece of equipment behind her. Each time she passed him, her heart gave an annoying little skip that she hoped was due to physical activity.  
And with that, Applejack’s worry over their new guest waned greatly. Ash showed his capability and strength with each chore AJ assigned him. True, it was mostly bucking trees, but the weight taken off her shoulders seemed immense. And then, he started to do little things around the house itself. Now that she had finished her apprenticeship with Chiffon Swirl, Sugar Belle was working to open her own small bakery on the farm that specializes in apple trees (with the Cakes’ blessing as a new competitor, of course). This meant all was put on hold while she looked over the grumpy, immobile Big Mac. He didn’t need much care, but being alone in his room feeling useless all the time made him quite miserable, which caused Sugar to try and spend more time with him.  
Now, with another stallion in the home, Big Macintosh was even grumpier. He’d stood as “stallion of the home” for so long, it was quite obvious he felt a little jealousy towards his perceived usurper. That is, until AJ walked in on the two of them one evening after hearing hooping and hollering. Initially concerned, AJ couldn’t help her relief when she saw that Ash and Mac were engaged in a harrowing game of Ogres and Oubliettes (turns out Ash had been building up his arrow mage or something for over five years. It gets boring on the job sometimes) and was discussing what appeared to be an intense piece of trivia. From then, Big Mac and Ash Bark never shared anything but their character’s stats and various trivia (and as AJ learned later, reassurance from Ash that he’d be off the farm as soon as his job was done).  
Everything, however, nearly came to a boil when Applejack though she saw the gray stallion whack her dear old granny across the muzzle. Feeling like she was having a heart attack, the orange mare burst into the room about to beat the abuser to a pulp. Then she noticed he was actually holding her head between his hooves and was slowly tilting it back and forth before pressing the tips into the nape of her neck. A blissful Granny Smith asks AJ to join in the massage Ash was so kind to offer when he saw Granny’s arthritis acting up this morning. Both of the younger ponies in the room quite quickly flashed a pleasant shade of pink, and the mare quickly hastened her way out of the room. It took quite awhile for her to calm down her raging nerves. There was still that shield, that small blanket of hesitation when it came to her new acquaintance. That is, however, until one moment changed all of that…