"Dylan... Dylan..." a familiar voice called out to him.

Dylan tossed and turned in his bed, messing up his blanket and forcing the sheets to pop off the corners of the mattress. He perked up his ears as he realized the doll was speaking once more. "M-Mom... Wha..."

"Dylan... I need to tell you something."

"Go away," Dylan mumbled under his pillow. "You're not even real." He didn't want to hear the voice again. Not tonight, not ever again.

"Dylan... Please listen," the doll whispered, its voice growing louder. "You're not safe, sweetie."

"Why do you torture me?" he growled back, trying to cover his ears with the pillow. "Stop reminding me that she's gone!"

"Someone is coming for you," it warned, its voice somehow able to pierce through the pillow's protection.

Curiosity had finally gotten the better of him. Dylan got up from his bed and trotted over to the porcelain doll on the dresser. "Who?" he asked, reaching up and taking the figurine into his hooves. There was no reply. He shook the doll a bit. "Hello?"

The doll refused to answer for the rest of the night...

The next morning...

Dylan trotted through the streets of Ponyville. He had gotten used to the small village, now able to tell where he was without asking for directions. He would often think back to the first day he met the Apples. His leg had been broken, and he had had no idea how to get back home. It wasn't as if he wanted to, though. He was happy here. He nodded to a passerby pony as he made his way down the road. Everypony was so friendly, and they didn't judge his human origin, like the time he went to Apple Con with his family.

"Hello there, Dylan!" a familiar voice greeted from behind him. He turned to see Filthy Rich, taking a stroll with his wife, Spoiled Rich. She looked less than happy to be among the other ponies, her head held high as if she were royalty.

Dylan rubbed the back of his head with a hoof. "Howdy, Mr. Rich," he greeted. He tried not to make eye contact with the unpleasant mare. He did, however, feel more comfortable talking to Filthy Rich. Dylan had a bit more of a stable relationship with the stallion since he came to apologize while Dylan was sick. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing swell today. I was just taking the missus out for lunch, isn't that right, dear?" Filthy looked to his wife for confirmation.

Spoiled just looked at Dylan and made a face of disgust. "Yes. That's right," she affirmed. She seemed to at the very least 'tolerate' Dylan ever since he explained to Filthy Rich at the carnival that he had become a pony. Filthy must've told her about it.

The wealthy stallion seemed a bit nervous around his wife as he tugged on his tie. "If you'll just pardon us, we'll be on our way," he said before leaning in to whisper to Dylan, "Can't keep the missus standing in one place for too long. I apologize." Dylan nodded, and the couple went on their way.

Before they were completely out of earshot, his ears picked up on Spoiled Rich's voice. "That ape will never be a REAL pony..." Dylan looked back to counter-argue, but they were out of sight.

The way home was filled with both anger and sadness. "I'm a real pony, aren't I?" Dylan muttered to himself. "She don't know what she's talkin' 'bout." His accent became thicker as he became angrier. "I'm just like them! I mean... I look like one, so I am one, right?"

Ever since he had become a pony, he felt like he was truly cemented into the Apple family. But as soon as Spoiled Rich said otherwise, his belief shattered. Something stirred inside of him. Some form of anger he couldn't control.

As he arrived at the farm, he came across a rock. With fury bubbling inside him, he kicked it as hard as he could, sending it flying through a window, shattering the glass. Dylan's rage immediately dissipated and was replaced with worry, guilt and fear.

"Who did this?!" a familiar voice cried. From out of the home came Applejack wearing an angry face. "Darn it! Who did this?" Her eyes scanned the area until they looked over Dylan. "Did you do this?!"

Dylan's eyes welled up with tears as he nodded, fearing punishment. "Ah'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do it! Ah was just so a-a-angry and Ah wasn't thinkin'!" he blurted, accent thickening some more.

Applejack walked over to Dylan and looked down at him, not with a face of anger, but with a look of concern. "Angry? Why are ya angry?"

Dylan looked back up at her, tears rolling down his face. "Spoiled Rich said I'll never be a REAL pony..." He sobbed. "Aren't I a real pony like you?"

"She said what now?" she asked, both confused and a bit angry. "Aw, Dylan! She don't know what she's talkin' about!" She pulled him against her chest and rubbed his back. "Dylan, you are a real pony!"

They sat there for a while until Dylan was dry of tears. He eventually looked up at her and stammered. "I-I'm sorry for breaking the window."

Applejack smiled at him and ran her hoof through his mane. "It's alright. Ya still gonna fix it though."

Later that day

Dylan hammered the last of the nails into the frame for the new window and wiped the sweat from his forehead with a hoof. Taking a step back, he admired his work. While working, he had had plenty of time to think about what Spoiled Rich had said to him, and Dylan had come to the conclusion that he shouldn't care what she thought of him. She didn't know him personally. She never knew what he went through. It was best to just ignore her. Someday she'd see, he thought. Just not today.

As Dylan made his way inside, he noticed two voiced. One was Applejack's, but the other... was unfamiliar.

"I feel that this will make everypony happy," the unfamiliar voice said. It was smooth, and it seemed as if it could talk anypony into pretty much anything.

Dylan slowly trotted over to the living room, and as he walked in, the first pony he noticed was a milky white unicorn. who stood in the center of the room. He possessed long silver hair and golden yellow eyes, and his back and flank were covered by a shiny red cape made from silk. Whoever this pony was, he seemed to be very wealthy, making alarms ring in Dylan's head.

The second pony he noticed, was of course, Applejack, who was sitting on the couch. She greeted Dylan with a wave of her hoof, making the unicorn turn his head to look at Dylan. Their eyes met, and Dylan had a sense of uneasiness inside.

Applejack motioned Dylan over. "Howdy, Dylan! Ya get that window fixed?"

Dylan nodded and looked over to her, breaking eye contact with the stallion. "Y-Yeah. Um... Who is this?" he asked.

"I'm sorry, my dear boy. My name is Quick Stacks," the unicorn introduced. "I'm pretty sure you've heard of me. I mean, most everypony has.~"

Dylan looked the unicorn over and shook his head. "I've never heard of you, sorry."

Quick Stacks seemed a bit disappointed. "Oh? I suppose not everypony has seen my advertising."

"He's the owner of most of Fillydelphia," Applejack chimed in. "Mah parents once did a bit of business with his pa!"

"Ahem. I think you mean this 'almost' did business with my 'pa'" Quick clarified. "I'm simply here to finish what they started."

"Which is?" Dylan asked.

"He wants to bring Sweet Apple Acres apples to Fillydelphia!" Applejack announced, obviously excited.

Dylan looked over to Quick Stacks with suspicion. "Why?"

"Why, for the sake of our parents, and for the sake of good business," Stacks replied. "You see, I pretty much represent the people of Fillydelphia, and I believe that we as good ponies must do our best to give them quality products. Imagine how they'd feel if they had access to fresh apples from Sweet Apple Acres."

Dylan squinted his eyes a bit. "I guess that would be a good thing..."

"I'll even split the profits 20/80, with Sweet Apple Acres being the 80 of course," Quick added.

Now this sounded too good to be true. Dylan didn't know much about business, but he knew that with Quick Stacks receiving such a small amount of the profits, he wouldn't have much to gain. Did Stacks really want to do this out of the kindness of his heart?

Applejack removed herself from the couch and trotted over to Dylan. "Sugarcube, this would be a good thing for us. I know you probably don't trust him now, but Quick Stacks is just trying to do what his pa couldn't finish. My parents worked very hard to get our apples into the city. If they trusted him, then why shouldn't I?"

Dylan looked into Applejack's eyes. She really seemed to want this. He didn't have the right to take this away from her. He sighed to himself and smiled. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be so quick to judge."

"Thatta boy, Dylan!" Applejack patted him on the back and then turned to Quick Stacks. "When do we start?"

"We can start right now!" Quick Stacks answered. He buried his face under his cloak to pull out a clipboard with a contract attached to it. "You just gotta sign here at the bottom," he said through clenched teeth as he held it in his mouth.

Applejack grabbed a pen off the table and into her mouth before going over to Quick Stacks. She then scribbled her name flawlessly on the piece of paper, making Dylan wonder how ponies could be so good at using their mouths like this.

Quick Stacks put the clipboard back under his cloak and smiled a winning smile. "I knew you'd make the right decision, Apples. I'll send my boys over here with a cart and we'll get to loading up some of those delicious apples of yours!"

"Oh boy! This is so excitin'! Meet me outside, Dylan, and we'll get to work!" Applejack said as she left the room.

"I'll be there in just a minute," Dylan called after her. As soon as she left the room, he turned to look at Quick Stacks. "Are you really trying to do the right thing?"

Quick Stacks simply smiled and replied, "My boy, some ponies will do anything out of the goodness of their hearts. I'm just one of those ponies."

Author's Note

I'm sorry this chapter wasn't as long as some might think it would be, but they'll get longer and longer as they go on. The ride's gonna be a bit bumpy as it goes on, and don't worry, Spoiled Rich will get punishment in the next chapter.